Ant-Mimicking Treehopper

Cyphonia clavata

The ant-mimicking treehopper (Cyphonia clavata) keeps itself safe from predators by pretending to be an ant. What looks like an ant is actually extension growths on its body - which most other insect species are incapable of creating.
Ant-mimic treehopper Found this little on on an unknown plant in district Commewijne Suriname Ant-Mimicking Treehopper,Cyphonia clavata,Fall,Geotagged,Suriname

Distribution

The Cyphonia Clavata lives mainly in the rainforests of South America, parts of Mexico and Costa Rica.
Ant-Mimicking Treehopper, Yunguillo, Colombia A pretty awesome insect that mimics an ant. Yet the extensions may not appear as ant initially. You actually have to look at it in reverse, the ant-mimic structure is opposite to the treehoppers' direction. Ant-Mimicking Treehopper,Colombia,Colombia 2018,Colombia South,Cyphonia clavata,Mocoa,Putumayo,South America,World,Yunguillo

Defense

The plan is that any predator looking down will only see what looks like an ant. The rest of the treehopper’s body will blend in with the foliage. What seems, at first, strange is that the body of the ant is positioned backwards on that of the treehopper. Take a look at the abdomen of the ant and you will see the tiny green eyes of the treehopper. Why is this? It is because when it is in defensive mode an ant will move backwards. In this way, the ant-mimicking treehopper (which can be found in in Middle and South America) has, in fact, got this right too.

References:

Some text fragments are auto parsed from Wikipedia.

https://prezi.com/rocccbpd8fem/cyphonia-clavata/
http://www.arkinspace.com/2014/06/the-ant-mimicking-treehopper.html
Taxonomy
KingdomAnimalia
DivisionArthropoda
ClassInsecta
OrderHemiptera
FamilyMembracidae
GenusCyphonia
SpeciesCyphonia clavata
Photographed in
Colombia
Suriname
Trinidad and Tobago