Evolution of periodicity in periodical cicadas

Abstract

Periodical cicadas (Magicicada spp.) in the USA are famous for their unique prime-numbered life cycles of 13 and 17 years and their nearly perfectly synchronized mass emergences. Because almost all known species of cicada are non-periodical, periodicity is assumed to be a derived state. A leading hypothesis for the evolution of periodicity in Magicicada implicates the decline in average temperature during glacial periods. During the evolution of periodicity, the determinant of maturation in ancestral cicadas is hypothesized to have switched from size dependence to time (period) dependence. The selection for the prime-numbered cycles should have taken place only after the fixation of periodicity. Here, we build an individual-based model of cicadas under conditions of climatic cooling to explore the fixation of periodicity. In our model, under cold environments, extremely long juvenile stages lead to extremely low adult densities, limiting mating opportunities and favouring the evolution of synchronized emergence. Our results indicate that these changes, which were triggered by glacial cooling, could have led to the fixation of periodicity in the non-periodical ancestors.

Co-operation, competition and crowding: a discrete framework linking Allee kinetics, nonlinear diffusion, shocks and sharp-fronted travelling waves

“…whereF (C) = −F (1 − C), on the interval ω < C ≤ A 1 . The final necessary and sufficient condition from Maini et al [39] for the existence of travelling wave solutions is that the minimum wave speed for Equation (35), v * 1 , is greater than, or equal to, the minimum wave speed for Equation (36), v * 2 . On the interval 0 ≤ C < ω, Equation (21) has a strictly positive F (C), where F (C) ≤ D i , and strong Allee kinetics.…”

“…On the interval 0 ≤ C < ω, Equation (21) has a strictly positive F (C), where F (C) ≤ D i , and strong Allee kinetics. Hence, the minimum wave speed for Equation (35) has an…”

Periodicitás a természettudományokban – Mengyelejev öröksége

“…Bizonyos növény-és állatfajok tömegének ciklikus váltakozása is periodikus jelenség. Az észak-amerikai kabócák (Magicicada) tömeges felszaporodásának 13 és 17 éves periódusokba rendeződése hőmérsékleti változásoknak tulajdonítható (Ito et al, 2015). Már ökológiai periódusos táblázatokkal is próbálkoztak (Ferraro, 2013).…”

Evolutionary origin of a periodical mass‐flowering plant

“…The evolutionary origins of periodical organisms are still unknown, although several hypotheses have been proposed. In periodical cicadas, the acquisition of periodicity is suggested to have preceded the selection of 13-or 17-year cycles (Ito et al, 2015;Sota et al, 2013;Tanaka, Yoshimura, Simon, Cooley, & Tainaka, 2009;Yoshimura, 1997). However, the evolutionary history of periodical cicadas has not been verified, because non-periodical, closely related species have not been found.…”