Rare pink grasshopper is found in Stamford garden

The colourful creature was caught on camera by keen amateur photographer Ash Rawlinson in his garden in Gloucester Road.

His partner Heather Smith had spotted the grasshopper while tidying up some toys belonging to their sons Oscar, 8, and Dylan, 4.

Ash said: “Heather was moving our trampoline and saw something on the grass.

“We were all in the garden and she shouted ‘come and look at this – I’ve found a pink grasshopper’.

“I didn’t even know they 
existed, but I ran and grabbed my camera and took some photos when it jumped on a toy truck.

“I’d just bought a new macro lens for my camera and so was able to get a really clear close-up photo.

“It’s really unusual looking and reasearch we did online suggests its pretty rare.”

According to conservation charity Buglife, grasshoppers are usually green, brown or a combination of the two. The colours help to keep them hidden in their grassy habitat.

Sometimes there is a bit of orange or red on their bodies, but in most species of grasshopper this is hidden on the lower half of the abdomen where it won’t be seen by predators overhead.

Buglife spokesman Paul Hetherington said: “Pink or purple is not an ideal colour for a creature which lives in a green habitat.

“It’s thought that the 
colours of these grasshoppers may have been caused by a genetic mutation, similar to that which affects albino animals.

“In some cases the pigments are reduced, and in others there is an excess of pigment. Here the red pigment is excessive causing the colour.

“Pink grasshoppers are generally shorter lived as they are easy prey for predators.”

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