Grasshopper would color pink in a world without predators

Researchers discover that New Orleans green insect is linked exclusively to the evolution of the species
by Globo Rural Online

The first grasshopper color pink was found in the wild in 1887. Since then, experts and scholars related to unusual color to a genetic abnormality called "erythrism", very similar to albinism. According to reports and research, in a group of 500 locusts, one would likely to be born color pink.

However, researchers at the Audubon Nature Institute, located in New Orleans, United States, found that the staining is exclusively linked to the evolution of species.

In an article published in Scientific American, responsible for the survey said that in a world without predators, locusts would not only color pink, but orange, yellow or any other color vibrant.

"It's much harder to be a green grasshopper found by a predator. Accordingly, the number of katydids increased over the years, while the colored group was diminishing," the report explains.

At the Audubon Nature Institute also work an aquarium and a zoo, which is open to the general public.

Source: Globo Rural magazine