Cvrčci će zavladati!

[Zwerko]

Elem, jedna specijalna vrsta cvrčaka se sprema da krene u svoj pohod na Ameriku u naredna dva meseca, nakon 13 godina koliko su proveli u zemlji. Milijarde insekata će izleteti iz svojih rupa i zanimljivo je da postoje sajtovi na kojima možete pratiti njihovo kretanje i "sightings", a preporučuje se stanovnicima Misurija i neke Karoline da ne planiraju venčanja niti bilo kakve događaje napolju u periodu maj-jun zbog najezde cvrčaka :) Interesantna je mutacija ovih životinja tako da postoje dve vrste, jedni provedu u zemlji po 13 godina, a druga podvrsta provede po 17, iako deluje da su krenuli da im se skraćuju ciklusi zbog globalnog otopljavanja. I nakon 13 godina će oni izleteti, dva meseca blejati iznad zemlje, pariti se, i na kraju će njihove larve ponovo 13 godina pod zemlju. Naučnici smatraju da su ovako evoluirali da bi zbunili grabiljivice, kad se pojavi više milijardi njih jednom u 13 godina prosto nema dovoljno grabljivica da bi ozbiljnije naudile njihovim rojevima. Čisto kao ilustracija koliko je blesav životinjski svet na ovoj našoj planeti.

After 13-Year Underground Adolescence, Billions of Cicadas Will Soon Burst Forth

What’s the News: In another glorious reminder of how weird nature really is, it’s time to get ready for the swarm: This May, after spending 13 years underground, huge populations of cicadas will emerge in the southern U.S. to molt, sing their riotous mating tunes, and breed. It’s a brief coda to their long adolescence in burrows 30 cm beneath the soil—by July, they will be dead, and their children will be beginning their years of exile from the surface.

What’s the Context:

While there are plenty of cicada species that send a generation to the surface every year, cyclical cicadas (of the genus Magicicada) come out en masse after 13 or 17 years. Scientists believe that this strategy evolved as a way to overwhelm predators—when there are so many cicadas around at one time, a good many of them will probably survive.

Cyclical cicadas live in tribes called broods that occupy certain geographic areas (see map)—the brood that’s swarming this year, called brood XIX or the Great Southern Brood. It was last seen in 1998. (Go ahead, check the math.)

Scientists have puzzled for decades over the fact that some cyclical cicadas live for 13 years and others for 17. One model built to study cicada evolution assumes that a single gene could determine whether a brood is a 17-er or a 13-er, with the 13-year gene being dominant over the 17-year gene—see that paper here. But the real-life genetics are still unclear.

Cicadas have been known to deviate occasionally from their routine. In 2009, brood II burst out four years early, surprising scientists (and folks living in the Atlantic states, where brood II is located). They are very sensitive to soil temperatures, and scientists think that mild winters might accelerate cicadas’ development and trigger early swarms.

Like solar eclipses and planetary transits of the sun, overlaps between 17-year and 13-year cicada broods are easily calculated: brood XIX and 17-year brood IV should next emerge simultaneously in Missouri, where their territories overlap, in 2219.

The Future Holds: The first cicadas have been spotted in Georgia already—keep your eyes peeled for more in the coming weeks.

[milutin_mica]

ameri, spricajte ih otrovima plx

[Kal1mero]

sta rade u zemlji 13 godina ?:)

[Zwerko]

Pa ono kao bleje :) Elem, poenta je da ne idu u hibernaciju, već zaista žive pod zemljom, jedu i sve to i spremaju se za trenutak kad za 13 godina ponovo izađu, zaista intrigantno.

[Kal1mero]

znaci leskova skola :):) jedu pod zemljom i krecu se ?:) koji mutanti od skakavaca :D

[[BMF]Psycho]

Ja sam gledao neki dokumentarac, ima slicna neka buba, isto 13 godina im leze jaja pod zemljom i onda kad se izlegu bukvalno prekriju sumu. Ali su svi retardirani, ne umeju da lete, ko god hoce ih pojede, jedino ih broj spasava.

[Lucky]

hahaha, "ali su sve retardirane, pojede ih ko hoće" :)

ali da je stvarno neverovatna vest, jeste. baš trip :)