5 ms·
> As male flies copulate with dead females, the fungal spores are showered onto the males, who then suffer the same gruesome fate. That doesn't seem right - it
by yarg 4y ago
> As male flies copulate with dead females, the fungal spores are showered onto the males, who then suffer the same gruesome fate.
That doesn't seem right - it seems like it would restrict the male -> female transmission vector.
Either way, pheromone traps are an interesting concept; they don't even need to trap the victims, just separate the males and females to prevent them from breeding.
- klyrs 4y agoI'm guessing the males don't suffer their fate immediately, and go on to spread the fungus to living females.
- robocat 4y agoPerhaps the fungus causes dead male flies to attract other male flies. If male flies normally don’t produce the sesquiterpene pheromones, and the fungus does, and pheremones are the primary way females are recognised, then . . .
- yarg 4y agoAlso in ducks (no need for fungal encouragement): https://www.theguardian.com/education/2005/mar/08/highereducation.research https://www.theguardian.com/education/2005/mar/08/highereduc...
- IIAOPSW 4y agoI'm willing to bet that the immediate impact of this on the size of the fly population is negligible, so the trait is selected for in the short to medium term. In the longer term, as the fungus spreads, it may be a victim of its own success. Fungi don't really understand sustainability.