BY S BURT
In a world where headlines about the catastrophic effects of climate change and the pandemic are numerous, it’s nice to hear a little piece of good news. Biodiversity is a real buzzword at the moment, and information that a rare grasshopper has been found in Chertsey shows that a little bit of sympathetic land management can really boost wildlife.
The pink grasshopper (below right) is a genetic mutation of the normally green and beige Meadow grasshopper Chorthippus parallelus (below left).
The pink colour is due to a genetic mutation called erythrism, a similar process to albinism where a creature is born totally white (no pigmentation at all). Those who watch Springwatch will no doubt have seen white badgers and blackbirds on the programme. Because of the mutation there is a decrease in the normal green pigment of the grasshopper and an increase in the production of red pigment.
Sioux Burt, a Chertsey based Zoologist and Macro Photographer, came across the grasshopper early one morning in August. ‘I was a bit surprised to see a bright pink one, I thought at first it was a male in breeding colours, so when I got home I looked it up and discovered it is rare – I was delighted. I informed Surrey Wildlife Trust for their records and they said they had never seen anything like it either. I went back several times and found more. I think the way the council leave the grass long on the floodplains for most of the year is fantastic, a real boost to wildlife in general when nature is under so much pressure in a predominantly human world. It is becoming increasingly important to preserve our green belt land and leave it wild.’
Nobody is quite sure why this pink colouration occurs, it’s just genes doing their thing. The grasshoppers are rare because predators can spot them much more easily, so few survive long enough to breed. The fact it does happen however is important, because it is the mix of genes in any population that allows them to adapt if a change occurs; biodiversity in all its glory. If something affected grass and changed it from green to pink, suddenly green grasshoppers would be much more heavily predated and pink ones more likely to survive to breed, continuing the genetic line. Although quite rare, they can be seen somewhere around the world from Texas to Japan at least once a year. In 2021 its Chertsey.
To exist, all grasshoppers of any colour need a habitat to survive in. The mighty Thames river flows through it, as does its tributary, the ‘Bourne’. Areas next to rivers are deliberately left open to allow a river to expand and contract naturally between the extremes of flood and drought, providing a home to a wide variety of species as the habitat changes. Damp soils create biodiversity hotspots, rich in insect and amphibian breeding habitats, and these species attract a wide array of others, such as birds, bats and other mammals. The largest floodplain in the area is Chertsey Meads on the East side of the town, a 100 acre Nature Reserve managed by Runnymede Council. On the corner of Eastworth Road and Free Prae Road lies a smaller floodplain connected to the Bourne. It is here the pink grasshoppers were spotted. Runnymede Council manage the grasslands sympathetically by leaving the grass long for the majority of the year, cutting a few narrow pathways for the locals to traverse through.
During lockdown, green spaces became important for mental health, so preserving these spaces for wildlife keeps us healthy too.