Just when you thought 2020 couldn’t get any weirder… it has. So say scientists who came to West Virginia this spring to study a mind-altering fungus that’s turning cicadas into zombies.

Have you heard the news? Zombies have been spotted in West Virginia, and we're not even kidding.
Mike Mozart/Flickr
Cicada zombies, that is. As you may remember, in much of the south-eastern portion of the state, Brood IX of the 17-year cicadas made a deafening emergence this past spring. They (and their nymph exoskeletons) were everywhere: trees, paths, cars, porches.
Cristy/OIYS
And scientists grabbed their chance to study a concerning new fungus that was first observed last year. It's a parasitic fungus known as Massospora, and it's thought to infect the nymphs as they dig their way out of the soil. It stays with them as they molt into adulthood, slowly eating away at the cicada's abdomen from the bottom up and replacing the carnage with fungal growth. The process eventually results in the cicada's death.
Cristy/OIYS

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But that's not all. The fungus actually seizes control of the cicada's brain, manipulating the male cicadas to imitate female mating behavior to draw other male cicadas near in order to infect them with the fungus.
PLOS Pathogens
Here's the good news: the fungus is absolutely not transmittable to humans. Hallelujah.
Cristy/OIYS
While we're on the topic of cicadas, all of these poor, infected 17-year cicadas (and their many healthy counterparts) have cycled on for this year, but you may still be hearing their cousins, the more greenish-tinted annual cicadas, stirring up a racket in your backyard.
pelican/Flickr
And something else worth mentioning: the 17-year cicadas will be back! Yes, this year's brood will reappear in 17 years, BUT the biggest brood of all (Brood X) is set to blanket the state next spring, so have your ear plugs ready.

But let’s get through the rest of 2020 before we start thinking about that, shall we?

To read the original study on Massospora, see this link. To begin preparing for a Zombie invasion in West Virginia, you’ll definitely want to read this helpful info.

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