Cicadas' cycles may be affected by climate change, scientists suggest

Cicadas' cycles of emergence may be affected by climate change, scientists say. But much about the insects remains mysterious.

A cicada in sync with its brood is a cicada with a chance.

The insects’ synchronized emergence is an evolutionary strategy, scientists say. Birds, raccoons and other predators can eat only so many of them. So the more cicadas emerge together, the better the odds that more will live on to reproduce and pass along their genes. 

“They have the safety-in-numbers strategy,” said Chris Simon, a professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of Connecticut who studies the insects.

The rare cicadas that lose track of time and emerge without their kin, by contrast, are sometimes called “stragglers.” Most small groups of stragglers get snapped up and don’t survive to reproduce. 

“Natural selection has favored individuals who wait, because the ones who don’t wait get eaten,” Simon said.

https://www.nbcnews.com/science/environment/cicadas-climate-change-timing-rcna149217

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