Question

Suppose there are 12-year cicadas and that cicadas have predatorswith 2-year cycles. How often would 12-year cicadas face theirpredators? Would life be better for 13-year cicadas than for12-year cicadas? Explain.

Answer 1

12-year cicadas would face their predators every 12 years, likely coinciding with a cycle of their predators due to the 2-year cycle of the predators. Life might be better for 13-year cicadas as their prime number life cycle would lead to less frequent encounters with predators. Predator-prey dynamics significantly influence the evolution and survival strategies of species.

Step-by-step explanation:

Predator-Prey Cycles and Cicada Life Spans:

12-year cicadas would face their predators every 12 years, as the cicadas emerge in sync with their own life cycle. However, if the predators have a 2-year cycle, there will be predator populations every 2 years. This means that every 12 years, when the cicadas emerge, they will coincide with a cycle of their predators.

Life might indeed be better for 13-year cicadas compared to 12-year cicadas. The reason is related to predator-prey dynamics and the cycles in which they interact. The number 13 is a prime number, which does not divide evenly by 2 (or any other number except 1 and itself), making the intersection of cicadas and predator cycles less frequent and thus reducing the predation pressure on the 13-year cicadas. On the other hand, the 12-year cycle is divisible by several numbers, including 2, which means that the 12-year cicadas would emerge more often in conjunction with their predator's cycle.

Predator-prey dynamics are a critical aspect of evolutionary biology and ecological studies. These dynamics can influence the evolution of both the predator and prey species. As the 12-year cicadas and their predators go through generations, the timing of their cycles can have profound effects on their populations and survival strategies.

Answer 2

Imagine a bunch of 12-year cicadas along with some 13-year cicadas. Assume this is the exact moment where predators are around.

Both groups face predators no matter their age. For the next cycle, 13-years cicadas will be 15, and 12-years cicadas will be 14 and they will face predators just the same.

So, once they are grown-up cicadas, they face the dangers in the same way at the same frequency.

Now analyze their whole lifetime. Today a new cicada was born and the next cycle of predators will be 2 years from now. Next year a new cicada will be born and the next cycle is only one year ahead.

This means that the next cycle of predators finds the older cicada for the first time and also for the new cicada. And for the rest of their lifetimes, no relative advantage is found for either of them, with the possible exception that older cicadas may be more prepared to avoid the danger.

So my best answer is NO.