Rare grasshoppers back in the Netherlands

Translated from Staatsbosbeheer in the Netherlands:

Rare grasshopper discovered in Maasduinen

Post published on Friday, August 12, 2011

A forester of Staatsbosbeheer, after a tip from visitors, found dozens of rare blue-winged grasshoppers in the Bergerbos. That forest is part of the Maasduinen National Park in north Limburg.

The blue-winged grasshopper was last seen in the Bergerbos ten years ago. The grasshoppers disappeared as their habitat changed. Staatsbosbeheer has restored the area now. There are heathland corridors now, by cutting down boring pine groves and exposing dunes to the sun again. The blue-winged grasshoppers are highly endangered in the Netherlands because grass and bushes suffocate their dunes habitat. This grasshopper species needs bare sand and much shelter. They also like heat.

Also on west Terschelling, blue-winged grasshoppers have been seen this year. On the island, the dunes in certain areas have been cleared of vegetation to give the species a chance.

August 2011: Wildlife experts estimate that at least 340kg of grasshoppers and crickets are living in one field of a Worcestershire nature reserve: here.

Rare pink grasshopper in Kent: here.

Various species of insects boast ears in the strangest places, including on their necks and under their wings. Now, a new examination of 50-million-year-old cricket and katydid fossils finds that these odd ears evolved before even the appearance of the predators that these ears can hear: here.