''Formiscurra'' is a
genus of
planthopper
A planthopper is any insect in the infraorder Fulgoromorpha, in the suborder Auchenorrhyncha, a group exceeding 12,500 described species worldwide. The name comes from their remarkable resemblance to leaves and other plants of their environment ...
in the family
Caliscelidae
Caliscelidae is a family of planthoppers, sap-sucking insects that belong to the order Hemiptera, suborder Auchenorrhyncha and superfamily Fulgoroidea. They are somewhat anomalous and have often been included within the family Issidae. Studies ...
with two species: ''
Formiscurra indicus
''Formiscurra indicus'' is a species of planthopper in the family Caliscelidae found in southern India. A related species, '' Formiscurra atlas'' occurs in southwestern Ethiopia. Like others of its family they have short wings, suck plant sap and ...
'' of southern India and ''
Formiscurra atlas'' from southwestern Ethiopia. Like others of its family they have short wings, suck plant sap and escape by leaping. The species shows great
sexual dimorphism. The males of this half centimeter-long insect have an enlarged lobe in front of its head, the frons or metope, giving it an ant-like appearance. Females do not have such an enlarged structure but have a slightly long snout and differ slightly in body shape. The species is found mainly on low vegetation in open scrub and grass habitats. It has been suggested, based on the Afro-Indian distribution, that the ancestral species of this and other genera, ''Chirodisca'' and ''Rhinogaster'', evolved in Eurasia and spread to Africa 5-7 million years ago when the Tethys sea closed and thus their ancestors would have been part of the late Miocene Hipparion fauna.
References
External links
New to Nature
Auchenorrhyncha genera
Insects described in 2011
Caliscelidae
{{Fulgoromorpha-stub