Extremely rare pink grasshoppers have been spotted in a back garden.
Natasha Welch, 61, was picking raspberries when she saw one of the bugs on a blade of grass.
She then saw a total of six baby pink grasshoppers.
The green meadow grasshopper species is very common across the UK but is generally green or brown.
Experts say the insects can carry a rare condition called erythrism, a genetic mutation similar to albinism.
It causes an overproduction of red pigment and turns them pink.
Reports say people only have about a one percent chance of seeing a pink grasshopper in their whole lifetime.
Some entomologists estimate that only about one in 500,000 grasshoppers is born with this unique coloration.
Natasha, of Shepton Mallet, Somerset, who spotted the unique insects on June 11, said, “Aren’t they amazing!
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“I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw them — I had never seen an odd-colored grasshopper before.
“The pink makes it special. I don’t know why they chose my garden, but I am very happy they did.
“They are absolutely tiny — the biggest one I’ve seen is only around one centimeter.
“I am hoping they’ll survive to grow into normal size grasshoppers.”
Natasha took photos of the insects and sent them to the team at Somerset Wildlife Trust — who then informed her of how rare these invertebrates really are.
Natasha said she first found a pink grasshopper in her 70-foot-long garden back in June 2025.
The mother-of-two said, “I have hundreds of normal grasshoppers in my garden, as I walk down the grass you can see them.
“But it was only this year I noticed multiple tiny pink ones — the fact that there are six of them is incredible, and you can see all of their interesting markings.
“I read that grasshoppers lay their eggs in the dirt or on the back of a leaf or something, so these have obviously been laid last year by the big one I spotted and then the babies hatched this year.
“I went down after the storm yesterday to make sure they were all still there and they are!”
Natasha, who adores nature, says her son, Jordan, 26, is able to pick them up and hold them on his fingers.
She said, “He absolutely loves them and they land on his hands — I’m jealous!
“I think they are happy here in their little spot because I have four cats in my garden so birds don’t really come nearby, and I don’t cut my grass very often.
“They haven’t really moved from this area in my garden for weeks, I hope they are here to stay.”
