Chapter 50 — Prime Numbers and Living Things

Prime numbers—integers divisible only by 1 and themselves—are the atoms of arithmetic. They are distributed among the integers without a simple pattern. They have no practical survival value. They are inhabitants of the most abstract domain of pure mathematics.

Magicicada septendecim, the 17-year periodical cicada, emerges from underground simultaneously every 17 years in synchronized broods covering hundreds of square kilometers of North America. A closely related species, Magicicada tredecim, emerges every 13 years. Both 17 and 13 are prime numbers. This is not coincidence: prime number cycles minimize synchronization with predator population cycles. Any predator that peaks in population every 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, or 16 years will rarely coincide with a 17-year cicada emergence. A prime cycle overlaps with a non-prime predator cycle only when the predator cycle length is 1 or the prime itself.

The cicada has solved a problem in number theory through biological selection. Life uses the most abstract domain of pure mathematics to solve the most concrete survival problem. The mathematical structure of the universe extends from the group theory of fundamental particle interactions to the prime number arithmetic of insect life cycles. It is the same structure throughout. The Author wrote the whole score.

Goles, E., Schulz, O., Markus, M. "Prime number selection of cycles in a predator-prey model." Complexity 6, no. 4 (2001): 33–38. Cox, R.T. and Carlton, C.E. "Paleoclimatic influences in the evolution of periodical cicadas." American Midland Naturalist 120, no. 1 (1988): 183–193.