A resident of Limburg spotted an unusual, bright pink grasshopper in her back garden last Saturday and has seen it hop back several times since.
Taika Brandorff, from Zonhoven in Limburg, noticed the rare species on Saturday and managed to get a photograph before it disappeared into the wilderness. Brandorff has found many other insects and grasshoppers in her garden before but this is the first magenta-coloured one she has seen.
Other species she has found include the rare hummingbird butterfly, swallowtail butterfly and the Broad-bordered Bee Hawk-moth, as well as bigger animals such as roe deer, squirrels and even wild boar. But this bright pink grasshopper was by far "the most surprising find", she told The Brussels Times.
"After I took some pictures she was quickly out of sight, but I saw it again on Monday and it was in the same spot again on Wednesday."
The rare species of grasshopper owes its captivating colour to a genetic mutation causing it to turn pink. They do not survive long in the wild as their bright colour makes it difficult to hide from predators – although less so in the summer months.
Buglife conservation charity spokesperson, Paul Hetherington, told the BBC that the pink grasshopper's colour is caused by the recessive gene erythrism, which causes too much red pigment and not enough black and can be passed through successive generations.
