West Virginia

West Virginia professor is collecting sex-crazed zombie cicadas on speed

Published

2 years ago

June 19, 2024

West Virginia professor is collecting sex-crazed zombie cicadas on speed

LISLE, Illinois (AP) — With their bulging red eyes and their alien-like mating sound, periodical cicadas can seem scary and weird enough. But some of them really are sex-crazed zombies on speed, hijacked by a super-sized fungus.

West Virginia University mycology professor Matt Kasson, his 9-year-old son Oliver, and graduate student Angie Macias are tracking the nasty fungus, called Massospora cicadina. It is the only one on Earth that makes amphetamine — the drug called speed — in a critter when it takes over. And yes, the fungus takes control over the cicada, makes them hypersexual, looking to spread the parasite as a sexually transmitted disease.

“They’re zombies, completely at the mercy of the fungus,” said University of Connecticut cicada researcher John Cooley.

This particular fungus has the largest known genome of any fungus. It has about 1.5 billion base pairs, about 30 times longer than many of the more common fungi we know, Kasson said. And when these periodical cicadas live underground for 17 years (or 13 years in the U.S. South), the spores generally stay down there with them.

“This was a mycological oddity for a long time,” Kasson said. “It’s got the biggest genome. It produces wild compounds. It keeps the host active — all these quirks to it.”

Kasson decided to ask people from around the country to send in infected cicadas this year. And despite an injured leg, Kasson, his son and Macias travelled from West Virginia to the Morton Arboretum outside Chicago, where others have reported the fungus that takes over a cicada’s nether parts, dumping the genitalia and replacing it with a white, gummy yet flaky plug that’s pretty noticeable. The spores then fall out like salt from a shaker.

Infected cicadas are supposed to be hard to find.

Ten seconds after she hops off the golf cart, Macias is in the trees, looking. She emerges victorious, hand in the air with a cicada, yelling “I got one.”

“That was just lucky,” Oliver whines.

“Luck, huh? Let’s see you get one,” Macias replies.

Ten seconds later at a neighboring bush, Oliver finds another. And just a bit after that a photographer finds a third.

Kasson and his small team collected 36 infected cicadas in his brief Chicago area jaunt with people sending him another 200 or so from all over. He’s still waiting for an RNA analysis of the fungus.

Some cicada experts have estimated maybe one in 1,000 of the periodical cicadas are infected with this fungus, but it’s not much more than a guess. Mount St. Joseph University’s Gene Kritsky, a biologist who wrote the book on this year’s unique dual emergence, said it might be skewed because the healthy cicadas stay higher up in the trees.

This year “the fungus is about how it always is,” Cooley said in an email. “It’s not super common.”

There’s debate among scientists if the fungus infects more cicadas deep in the soil coming out of the ground after 13 or 17 years or if it infects the newly hatched nymphs on the way underground for more than a decade.

This fungus isn’t the type of parasite that kills its host, but instead it needs to keep it alive, Kasson said. Then the infected cicadas attempt to mate with others, spreading the spores to its mate/victim. The males even pretend in their hypersexualized state to be females to entice and infect other males, he said.

The cousin to this fungus which infects annual cicadas out west also makes a psychoactive compound in the cicadas but it is more akin to psychedelics like magic mushrooms, Kasson said. So sometimes people, even experts, mix up the amphetamine that the infected 17- and 13-year cicadas produce with the more trippy compounds of the annual bugs, he said.

Either way, don’t try it at home. Even though cicadas themselves are edible, not so much the infected ones.

In the interest of science, Kasson tried one during this emergence, making sure they were from the inside of a female so more antiseptic.

“Man, it was so bitter,” Kasson said, explaining that he immediately rinsed his mouth out. “It tasted like something you would consider poisonous.”

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West Virginia

WV faith leaders urge state senators to reject camping ban bill

Published

5 hours ago

March 11, 2026

Press Room

WV faith leaders urge state senators to reject camping ban bill

BRIDGEPORT, W.Va (WDTV) – Several West Virginia faith leaders are calling on state senators to reject a bill that would criminalize camping on public property, saying the legislation runs counter to Christian teachings on caring for the poor.

The West Virginia Council of Churches released an open letter signed by faith leaders and congregations from across the state, urging senators not to advance House Bill 5319. The bill, sponsored by Delegates Chiarelli and Browning, passed the House of Delegates on March 2 and is scheduled to be heard on Wednesday afternoon at 3:00 p.m. in the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Under HB 5319, it would be unlawful for any person to camp or store personal property — including tents, sleeping bags, tarps, blankets, and similar items — on any public street, park, trail, or other public property in West Virginia.

Penalties would escalate with each violation:

First violation: A written warning, along with information about resources and alternative shelter locations
Second violation: A misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up to $200
Third violation (within 12 months of the first): A misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up to $500, up to 30 days in jail, or both

The bill specifies that each day a violation continues counts as a separate offense. Exceptions include people camping in designated campgrounds, those camping lawfully under state outdoor recreation law, and people sleeping overnight in a registered and insured motor vehicle parked legally.

The open letter, organized by the West Virginia Council of Churches, is signed by member denominations representing millions of Christians statewide — including the Roman Catholic Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston, the Episcopal Diocese of West Virginia, the United Methodist Church’s West Virginia Conference, the Presbyterian Church (USA), the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the Salvation Army, and more than a dozen other Christian communions.

The letter calls on senators to reject the bill, arguing that criminalizing homelessness conflicts with the Christian call to serve those in need.

“As followers of Christ, we believe in a God who created all beings and loves all creation. And in this nation full of plenty, Christians ask God to open our hearts so that when we see a person in need of a place to sleep, rather than wanting them to be disappeared into a jail cell, we look at them the way God would and ask, ‘How can I help?’”

The letter warns that HB 5319 “will create a revolving door between homelessness and jail, prevent people from getting on a path to stable housing, and make it harder for service providers and law enforcement to focus on solutions that center human dignity.”

It also argues that fines are an ineffective tool: “We cannot disappear human beings, nor expect that people experiencing homelessness have the money to pay any fine.”

Instead, the letter asks legislators to consider “that the practice of the Christian faith calls us to minister to the homeless and others in economic distress through a variety of ministries including feeding, clothing, and housing programs.”

The letter concludes by calling HB 5319 “antithetical to the life and teachings of Jesus Christ” and asking senators to “roundly reject” the bill.

Read the full open letter here.

The statewide camping ban debate has been building for more than a year. In January 2026, two nearly identical bills — Senate Bill 175 and Senate Bill 184 — were introduced in the legislature, both proposing to make camping on public property a criminal offense. Those bills were referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee.

HB 5319 represents the version that advanced further, clearing the House of Delegates on March 2.

The issue has deep roots at the local level. Both Morgantown and Clarksburg passed camping ordinances in late 2024. In April 2025, Morgantown voters chose to keep their camping ban in place after a referendum. But advocates have continued to raise concerns about the lack of shelter capacity — Morgantown alone had nearly 150 homeless residents but only around 50 shelter beds, with roughly 80 people still without a place to sleep even during the winter months.

Prior Coverage:

2 newly-introduced bills could criminalize homelessness in W.Va. with a statewide camping ban

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West Virginia

W.Va. lawmakers push through multiple bills as Saturday deadline nears

Published

17 hours ago

March 11, 2026

Press Room

W.Va. lawmakers push through multiple bills as Saturday deadline nears

BRIDGEPORT, W.Va (WDTV) – West Virginia lawmakers continued working as the Saturday midnight deadline approaches.

Senate Action

The Senate passed 12 bills, including one requiring adult content websites to use age verification to block minors. Senators also passed a bill creating a Cold Case Task Force.

House Bill 49-90, targeting gift card crimes, and House Bill 54-37, the Vape Safety Act, also passed unanimously. All four bills now go to the House for concurrence.

Delegates passed Alyssa’s Law, allowing teachers to wear mobile alert buttons that notify 9-1-1 and trigger a school lockdown in emergencies. The bill is named after a victim of the 2018 Parkland shooting.

Bill 4005, which clarifies jobs prohibited for workers under 16 — including bar work and logging — also passed. Both bills now head to Governor Patrick Morrisey’s desk.

Senate Bill 4 would require bystanders to stay at least 30 feet from first responders.

Senate Bill 75 would allow West Virginia law enforcement to cooperate with officers in bordering states. A bill from the Education Committee would allow teachers with at least 15 years of experience to become certified as school principals.

For more legislative coverage, go to our website at wdtv.com.

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West Virginia

West Virginia Returns Home to Face Maryland in Midweek Clash

Published

2 days ago

March 10, 2026

Press Room

West Virginia Returns Home to Face Maryland in Midweek Clash

The West Virginia Mountaineers (10-3) welcome the Maryland Terrapins (10-5) to Kendrick Family Ballpark Tuesday afternoon the first encounter between the two programs since 2023 and the first meeting in Morgantown since 2018. The first pitch is set for 2:00 p.m. EST and the action will stream on ESPN+.

The Mountaineers captured their fourth consecutive series of the season after taking two of the three games from Columbia over the weekend. West Virginia sophomore Matt Ineich and senior Brodie Kresser both blasted grand slams during the series. Ineich lifted WVU in game two with a walk-off grand slam in the 10th in game two, and Kresser ignited a 16-1 rout, capping a six-run second inning in the series finale.

Gavin Kelly leads West Virginia at the plate with a .436 batting average with a Big 12 leading nine doubles. Ineich and senior Paul Schoenfeld has raked in a team-leading 16 RBI apiece, while senior Matthew Graveline has clubbed a team-high three home runs.

On the mound, West Virginia is expected to start sophomore David Hagen. The right-hander has made four appearances on the season, including one start. He last started in the home-opener against Ohio where he pitched two scoreless innings and recorded a strikeout to collect his first win of the season. He holds a 1.00 ERA with five strikeouts on the season.

After starting 3-4, Maryland is 7-1 in its last eight games. The Terrapins won two of three at UNC Wilmington in the season opening series, followed by a midweek win against Georgetown before getting swept at Louisiana. The Terps bounced back with a pair of midweek wins versus Delaware and swept a one-win Wagner team.

Junior Brayden Martin is batting a team-best .443 to go with four doubles and 12 RBI. Redshirt freshman Ryan Costello leads the Terps in home runs (9) and RBI (21) and is third in batting average at .328, while freshman Ty Kaunus has a team-high seven doubles and has .269 batting average.

Maryland is scheduled to start freshman Nic Morlang. The right-hander has four appearances on the season, including four starts. He allowed five earned runs in his appearances, coinciding with his two starts, in six innings of work. In his last two appearances in relief, He’s allowed one earned run on five hits.

West Virginia leads the all-time series 8-5, including a five-game winning streak over Maryland.

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