Louisiana family finds rare pink bug in garden. Could you see one in your yard this summer?

LIVINGSTON PARISH, La. (BRPROUD) — A man and his family discovered a rare pink katydid eating a corn stalk in the garden outside of their home in Springfield on the evening of Thursday, June 27.

Raegan McCaleb's fiancé was cutting the grass when he first saw the pink insect.

"He said he never thought an actual pink grasshopper would be on our plant much less anywhere! It was at the time eating our corn plant, and he went back to cutting because he didn't really think he saw what he saw," said McCaleb.

Dr. Aaron Ashbrook, assistant professor of urban/peri-urban entomology at LSU said McCaleb's family discovered a katydid. Ashbrook said that they can "be commonly called tree crickets or bush crickets."

McCaleb said her four sons were excited once they realized what they had in the yard.

"My son Rowan went with my fiancé outside to water our garden, and they noticed it was still on the plant, so my son ran inside with it and was yelling 'Mom, a pink grasshopper!!' At first, I was like 'Yeah sure,' but when he showed me, I was like 'wow,'" said McCaleb.

McCaleb said her family freaked out when they saw the unusual bug.

"My first thought was 'Wow, this is a lot prettier than a normal one and less scary' and my second thought was to see if anyone has ever seen one before. We all said it was our lucky night," said McCaleb.

The insect died, but they saved it in case the LSU AgCenter wanted it for research purposes.

She said her family believes in signs from God, like angel numbers, when they're praying for things to happen.

"We always say when we see those things 'That's our sign right there from God.' What may be strange to others, we felt the connection right away," she said.

Small things add up. That day, she'd worn a pink shirt and bought her sons a special pink drink. Later that night, a pink visitor.

"We believe it was something special for our little family and thankful God has made such a beautiful and fascinating creature for us to enjoy!" she said.

How rare are these pink bugs in Louisiana?

"Finding a pink grasshopper is a rare occurrence, they are not unheard of in Louisiana," he said. "However, I have not seen any in the wild."

"Katydids are close relatives to grasshoppers, from the family Tettigoniidae. Similar to crickets and grasshoppers, katydids produce songs at night in order to attract a mate and have powerful hind legs modified for jumping," said Ashbrook.

Ashbrook said about 1 in 500 katydids have a pink coloration.

"We have a lot of katydids in Louisiana, which may account for the increased number of sightings. Additionally, katydids seem to be out a bit earlier this year. We typically only have one generation of katydids a year; however, we are already seeing adult katydids, which is unusual," said Ashbrook.

So, what causes the pink coloration? Ashbrook said it is "due to a recessive genetic condition called erythrism, that results in the increased deposition of red pigment."

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