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It's really hard to picture something like that evolving.
I always to my best to recognize when I'm mistaking my own lack of imagination for a real-life impossibility. Try it!
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My own GUESS would be that the 17 year locust was originally designed as a signal of some sort, i.e. as a sign for some recurring event or celebration at 17-year intervals.
Why is that... because ancient people couldn't count that high?
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I mean, if some biting fly or mosquito came out every 17 years you might figure it to be a microevolutionary adaptation but the locust is decorative like butterflies.
Decorative? Some people hate them. They scared the crap out of me as a kid. I love 'em now, especially deep-fried with ketchup
Regardless, the sensory response of a common species of primates to a particular insect is an
incredibly poor basis for speculation as to the insect's origins.