# Magicicada **Domain:** Entomology / Periodical cicadas **Doc Type:** Developed Biological Node **Maturity:** Developed **Collection:** [[collections/Gamification|Gamification Collection]] ## Definition ***Magicicada*** is the genus of North American periodical cicadas whose broods spend most of their life underground and emerge on characteristic thirteen-year or seventeen-year schedules. Both periods are prime numbers; the evolutionary explanation for the periodicities remains an active scientific question. ## Cicada 3301 context [[articles/gamification/I Got the Cicada 3301 Bug in 2023|I Got the Cicada 3301 Bug in 2023]] uses the documented biological interval as a temporal filter on the [[wiki/1233014400|January 27 coordinate]]. The biological fact does not establish that Cicada 3301 adopted either interval as an instruction. Seventeen years is used in that research because it was specified before the timestamp search; admitting thirteen years produces additional completed recurrences and remains part of the adversarial test. ## Sources - [Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, Periodical Cicadas](https://naturalhistory.si.edu/education/teaching-resources/life-science/periodical-cicadas) - [[articles/gamification/I Got the Cicada 3301 Bug in 2023|I Got the Cicada 3301 Bug in 2023]] ## Routes [[wiki/Cicada 3301|Cicada 3301]] · [[wiki/1233014400|1233014400]] · [[wiki/Specification Priority|Specification Priority]] · [[wiki/Liber Primus|Liber Primus]]