The true colours of the Formidable Pygmy Grasshopper (Notocerus formidabilis Gunther, 1974) from the Sava region (Madagascar).

ABSTRACT: The Formidable Pygmy Grasshopper, Notocerus formidabilis Günther, 1974 (Tetrigidae: 'Malagasy Metrodorinae'), is certainly a stunning, extraordinary insect. Despite the fact that the species was described almost 50 years ago, its beauty had remained completely hidden until recently. The bright yellow colouration of the minute warts on its dorsal hump and even brighter purple-yellowish colouration of its abdomen have been, tragically, completely lost in museum specimens. Luckily, photographs of three live females taken in 2007, 2009 and 2015 were recently uploaded to the iNaturalist platform by the first author of this paper, where they were identified as N. formidabilis by the middle and last authors. Along with a male and a female discovered in the MNHN collections (Paris) a

SUBMITTER: Mathieu E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8203595 | biostudies-literature | 2021

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature