Everything We Thought We Knew About Psilocybin’s Purpose Might Be Wrong
For decades, scientists have assumed that psilocybin (the psychoactive compound found in “magic mushrooms”) exists primarily as a chemical defense. The logic was simple: ingest the mushroom, get disoriented, suffer the consequences. Case closed.
But new research is unsettling that tidy explanation. According to a recent, not-yet-peer-reviewed badanie, psilocybin-producing mushrooms may be far more vulnerable to insect predation than previously thought. If true, this discovery reopens one of mycology’s strangest and most persistent questions: why did mushrooms evolve to produce a powerful psychedelic at all?
A Compound Nature Invented More Than Once
One reason psilocybin’s function has puzzled researchers for so long is that evolution appears unusually committed to it.
Genetic studies show that the ability to produce psilocybin evolved at least twice in completely unrelated mushroom lineages. This phenomenon (znany jako convergent evolution) occurs when different species independently develop the same trait because it offers a strong survival advantage.
We see it all over the natural world. Birds and bats evolved wings separately. Vertebrates and cephalopods evolved eyes independently. When evolution repeats itself like this, it’s usually because the trait in question works naprawdę well.
Which makes psilocybin’s purpose especially confusing. Wings let you fly. Eyes let you see. But a molecule that alters perception, cognition, and behavior? The evolutionary payoff isn’t immediately obvious.
The Insect Deterrent Hypothesis
Until now, the dominant theory was that psilocybin protects mushrooms from being eaten.
This idea makes intuitive sense. Psilocybin closely resembles serotonin, and many insects possess serotonin receptors similar to those found in humans. When psilocybin binds to these receptors, it can profoundly alter behavior.
Laboratory studies support this view, at least partially. Research has shown that larvae from certain fly species experience reduced pupation rates after exposure to psilocybin, meaning fewer survive long enough to reach adulthood. Other experiments have demonstrated that psilocybin can disorient insects, most famously causing spiders to spin bizarre, asymmetrical webs.
Taken together, these findings seemed to suggest that psilocybin acts as a chemical deterrent: eat the mushroom, lose your bearings, and pay the price.
A New Study Complicates the Story
That narrative began to unravel when researchers turned their attention to Psilocybe cyanescens, a potent, wild-growing psilocybin mushroom species.
By analyzing the mushrooms’ meta-transcriptomes (essentially a snapshot of all active RNA in the sample) the team discovered something unexpected: RNA sequences corresponding to hundreds of insect proteins. In other words, these mushrooms were already full of bugs.
Most of the sequences belonged to fungus gnats, a group of flies notorious among commercial mushroom growers for infesting crops. To see whether psilocybin made any difference to these pests, the researchers designed a simple experiment.
They placed Psilocybe cyanescens in one jar and non-psilocybin-producing mushrooms collected from the same location in another. After several days, four to five fungus gnat larvae appeared in each jar. Roughly two weeks after collection, adult flies emerged from both.
The conclusion was hard to ignore.
“This result shows that in fact there are flies whose larvae do consume psilocybin-producing mushrooms, providing evidence that psilocybin does not confer complete protection from insect mycophagy,” piszą autorzy.
In short: some insects can eat magic mushrooms just fine.
So… Why Psilocybin?
If psilocybin isn’t an effective insect repellent, then what evolutionary role could it be playing?
For now, scientists don’t have a definitive answer. But one intriguing hypothesis suggests that psilocybin may influence animal behavior rather than survival, subtly shaping how mushrooms spread.
By altering perception and movement patterns, psilocybin could encourage animals to distribute mushroom spores more widely — or more unpredictably — than they otherwise would. Instead of neat, localized dispersal, spores might end up scattered across diverse environments, increasing the chances of successful colonization.
It’s speculative, but evolution doesn’t require intention…only results.
A Quick Primer: What Is Psilocybin, Anyway?
Psilocybin is a naturally occurring psychedelic compound found in over 180 species of mushrooms, primarily within the Psilocybe genus. Once ingested, the body converts psilocybin into psylocyna, which interacts with serotonin receptors (especially the 5-HT2A receptor) w mózgu.
In humans, this interaction can lead to altered perception, changes in thought patterns, emotional breakthroughs, and mystical-type experiences. In recent years, psilocybin has also attracted serious scientific interest for its potential to treat depression, anxiety, PTSD, and addiction.
But long before humans took notice, psilocybin was already busy doing coś in forests, fields, and fungal networks worldwide.
Mystery Still Intact
Rather than solving the riddle of psilocybin’s purpose, this new research deepens it.
What’s clear is that psilocybin isn’t a simple chemical shield, nor is it an evolutionary accident. The fact that nature invented it more than once strongly suggests it plays a meaningful role — just not the one we assumed.
As scientists continue to probe the strange ecology of psychedelic fungi, one thing remains certain: magic mushrooms still have secrets to tell, and psilocybin’s true function may be stranger, and more elegant, than we ever imagined.
