The Cicada invasion!

[Guest Slihp]

Which is the nearest planet that has a 17 year cycle around its sun?

The reason for this post is i recently discovered that the cicada only emerges once every 17 years, i find it hard to belive that beetles have a calander bellow ground and therefore have a theory that they originated from another solar system, from a world which had a 17 year cycle around its sun.

I understand that my theory is ultimately open for critisism but any explination to why they only come out once every 17 years would be appriciated..

 

Thank alot, slihp

[swansont]

It has been argued that a 'not-trivially-small' prime number gives a good survival chance so that predators would have a hard time getting a matching population growth to take advantage of the cicadas' appearance. The survival strategy is dubbed predator satiation aka "you can't eat us all."

 

Oh, and there are 13-year cicadas as well.

 

more and yet more

[admiral_ju00]

Since you've created 2 of the same threads for some unknown reason, I'll answer it here.

 

Most organisms, including some bacteria have what's known as the Internal biological clock - aka Circadian Rhythm.

 

Other than that, there are other factors, many of which are genetic.

 

A case in point is Puberty.

[AzurePhoenix]

Slip, or whatever your name is, not all cicadas have thirteen year cycles. some species have five year cycles, or cycles of a different amount. And i'm not going to comment on the sheer and utter stupidity of this thread.

[Woxor]

Interesting idea. Highly unlikely -- Ockham's Razor and all that.

[Tommyknocker]

I totally agree with your theory, the fact that their anatomy is so similar to other instects is total coincidence.

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<ends sarcasm>

[AzurePhoenix]

I would like to nominate a contender for the Darwin Award of this and the next century.

[Sayonara]

I would like to nominate a contender for the Darwin Award of this and the next century.

Try nominating someone who is actually elligible.