''Formiscurra indicus'' is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

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 ...

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 escape by leaping. The species shows great

sexual dimorphism Sexual dimorphism is the condition where the sexes of the same animal and/or plant species exhibit different morphological characteristics, particularly characteristics not directly involved in reproduction. The condition occurs in most ani ...

. The male of this half centimeter-long insect has 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.

Discovery

This species was described in 2011 on the basis of specimens collected from around southern India from as far back as 1978. The

holotype A holotype is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism, known to have been used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of several ...

was collected in the campus of the University of Agricultural Sciences at

Bangalore Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...

in the state of

Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Karnat ...

in India. Other specimens have been collected from a widely separated locations in southern India including Nagerhole,

Dindigul Dindigul, also spelt Thindukkal (), is a city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the administrative headquarters of the Dindigul district. Dindigul is located southwest from the state capital, Chennai, away from Tiruchirappalli, away ...

Mettupalayam Mettupalayam may refer to: * Mettupalayam, Coimbatore Mettupalayam is a municipality town and taluk of the Coimbatore district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the second largest town in the Coimbatore District. It's located to the North ...

and in

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to the ...

. The genus name is derived from the

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

word ''formica'' for

ant Ants are eusocial insects of the family Formicidae and, along with the related wasps and bees, belong to the order Hymenoptera. Ants evolved from vespoid wasp ancestors in the Cretaceous period. More than 13,800 of an estimated total of 22 ...

and ''scurra'' for clown. Although no

molecular phylogenetic Molecular phylogenetics () is the branch of phylogeny that analyzes genetic, hereditary molecular differences, predominantly in DNA sequences, to gain information on an organism's evolutionary relationships. From these analyses, it is possible to ...

studies have been conducted, the species is thought to be closely related to African forms like '' Afronaso'' and ''

Populonia Populonia or Populonia Alta (Etruscan: ''Pupluna'', ''Pufluna'' or ''Fufluna'', all pronounced ''Fufluna''; Latin: ''Populonium'', ''Populonia'', or ''Populonii'') today is a ''frazione'' of the ''comune'' of Piombino (Tuscany, central Italy). As o ...

''. Not much is known about the life history of the species and although the males are myrmecomorphic, the benefit of this ant-mimicry being limited to the male is not clearly understood. Male-limited

Batesian mimicry Batesian mimicry is a form of mimicry where a harmless species has evolved to imitate the warning signals of a harmful species directed at a predator of them both. It is named after the English naturalist Henry Walter Bates, after his work on bu ...

is extremely rare. and in general, male-limited mimicry is rare (the other examples being a spider ''Coleosoma floridanum'' with an ant-like male and a

jewel beetle Buprestidae is a family of beetles known as jewel beetles or metallic wood-boring beetles because of their glossy iridescent colors. Larvae of this family are known as flatheaded borers. The family is among the largest of the beetles, with some ...

''Chrysobothris'' with males being

mimetic Mimesis (; grc, μίμησις, ''mīmēsis'') is a term used in literary criticism and philosophy that carries a wide range of meanings, including '' imitatio'', imitation, nonsensuous similarity, receptivity, representation, mimicry, the ...

Description

The male of ''Formiscurra indicus'' is about 5 mm long. The legs are long and the forelegs are sometimes raised when walking. The body is somewhat saddle shaped and the abdomen is slightly narrow at the base. The male has the frons (lower part of metope and upper part of post-clypeus) elongated and bulbous. The antenna has a long filament arising upward from the pedicel. The compound eyes are large and there are no ocelli. The short beak or rostrum is held underneath the body and the tip reaches the base of the hindleg. The female has a short tubular snout without the bulbous shape. The female lacks the narrowed waist and has the abdomen shaped as in more typical caliscelids.

References

External links

New to Nature
Insects described in 2011 Insects of India Caliscelidae {{Fulgoromorpha-stub