Hopf bifurcation and multiple periodic solutions in Lotka–Volterra systems with symmetries

The purpose of this paper is to study Hopf bifurcations in a delayed Lotka–Volterra system with dihedral symmetry. By treating the response delay as bifurcation parameter and employing equivariant degree method, we obtain the existence of multiple branches of nonconstant periodic solutions through a local Hopf bifurcation around an equilibrium. We find that competing coefficients and the response delay in the system can affect the spatio-temporal patterns of bifurcating periodic solutions. According to their symmetric properties, a topological classification is given for these periodic solutions. Furthermore, an estimation is presented on minimal number of bifurcating branches. These theoretical results are helpful to better understand the complex dynamics induced by response delays and symmetries in Lotka–Volterra systems.

► We obtain the existence of multiple periodic solutions for Lotka–Volterra systems with symmetries.
► We give an estimation on minimal number of bifurcated branches of periodic solutions.
► A topological classification of such periodic solutions is given by their symmetric properties.