Formiscurra

Formiscurra
Male climbing a twig
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hemiptera
Family:	Caliscelidae
Subfamily:	Caliscelinae
Tribe:	Caliscelini
Genus:	Formiscurra Gnezdilov & Viraktamath, 2011
Type species
Formiscurra indicus Gnezdilov & Viraktamath, 2011

Formiscurra is a genus of planthopper in the family Caliscelidae with a single species Formiscurra indicus found in southern India. Like others of its family they have short wings, suck plant sap and escape by leaping. The species shows great sexual dimorphism. 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.

This species was described in 2011 on the basis of specimens collected from around southern India from as far back as 1978. The holotype was collected in the campus of the University of Agricultural Sciences at Bangalore in the state of Karnataka in India. Other specimens have been collected from a widely separated locations in southern India including Nagerhole, Dindigul, Mettupalayam and in Andhra Pradesh. The genus name is derived from the Latin word formica for ant and scurra for clown. Although no molecular phylogenetic studies have been conducted, the species is thought to be closely related to African forms like Afronaso and Populonia. 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 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 Chrysobothris with males being mimetic).

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