Periodicity in delayed self-regulation is a predator-prey process

Abstract: We unify two different periodicity mechanisms: delayed self-regulation and planar predator-prey feedback. We consider scalar delay differential equations $\dot x(t) = rf(x(t), x(t - 1))$ where $f$ is monotone in the delayed component. Due to a Poincar\'{e}--Bendixson theorem for monotone delayed feedback systems, the typical global dynamics present periodic orbits as the delay parameter $r$ increases. In this article, we show that, as we vary the delay, each connected component of periodic orbits is an annulus with global coordinates given by the time and the amplitude of the corresponding periodic solutions. On each annulus, the variables $x(t)$ and $x(t - 1)$ solve an integrable ordinary differential equation that satisfies a predator-prey feedback relation. Moreover, we completely characterize the set of periodic solutions of the delay differential equation in terms of two time maps generated by the underlying predator-prey system.