“Billions, even trillions, of cicadas are going to emerge at the same time across 17 states,” Chris Simon, a professor in UConn’s Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, told Live Science.
Brood XIII and XIX have been living underground for 17 and 13 years respectively, and will emerge for the first time together in 221 years.
Periodical broods are found in eastern North America and tend to emerge in large numbers.
Once they hatch, the nymphs feed off root sap underground until it’s time to mate.
Mating season has been described as a noisy and chaotic display that could happen for weeks.
An event like this hasn’t occurred since 1803 when Thomas Jefferson was president, and the next occurrence will not be until 2244.
“The co-emergence of any two broods of different cycles is rare because the cycles are both prime numbers,” John Cooley, founder of the Periodical Cicada Project and a professor in UConn’s Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, told the publication.
“Any given 13- and 17-year broods will only co-emerge once every 13 x 17 = 221 years.”
I'm 56 and have lived through quite a few Cicada boods in my life. Everyone hyped more extreme than the last. The media has always loved tugging on the reader's terror chain when it comes to the creepy noisy Cicadas.
Reading the article posted above, got me wondering about the genetics of the two broods. Are they the same species or not? Do the parents determine the brood or some natural cycle, that can affect decedents from either brood? Will offspring from the two emerging broods mate, is that possible, or will they have to stick with their own brood? If the answer is no, then they are seperate species and not related at all. So they can quit the brood 13 and 17 hype and just study the two distinct species by name. There are also Cicadas that emerge once every 1 to 9 years. They all seem to emerge when other species aren't available. Perhaps science has had to wait 221 years to research these nagging questions, as I don't recall any hype piece on the Cicada broods over the years ever clarifying that.
invite response
https://endtimeheadlines.org/2024/03/trillions-of-cicadas-set-to-invade-eastern-us-for-the-first-time-since-founding-fathers/
I'm 56 and have lived through quite a few Cicada boods in my life. Everyone hyped more extreme than the last. The media has always loved tugging on the reader's terror chain when it comes to the creepy noisy Cicadas.
Reading the article posted above, got me wondering about the genetics of the two broods. Are they the same species or not? Do the parents determine the brood or some natural cycle, that can affect decedents from either brood? Will offspring from the two emerging broods mate, is that possible, or will they have to stick with their own brood? If the answer is no, then they are seperate species and not related at all. So they can quit the brood 13 and 17 hype and just study the two distinct species by name.
There are also Cicadas that emerge once every 1 to 9 years. They all seem to emerge when other species aren't available.
Perhaps science has had to wait 221 years to research these nagging questions, as I don't recall any hype piece on the Cicada broods over the years ever clarifying that.