For four children from the Mondomijn child center in the Brandevoort district of Helmond, the world exploration lesson started in a very special way this Wednesday morning. During a search for animals and insects, they discovered a rare, large pink grasshopper outside.
The students were investigating outside together with teacher Teun de Greef. “With the world exploration subject, the children look outside for animals and insects and then investigate them further,” says De Greef to This is Helmond. The children work with assignments and worksheets about nature and animals.
During the search, Milou, Thijs, Vince and Iggi suddenly saw a striking pink insect sitting on a wall. According to the children, the grasshopper jumped about two meters down. The animal was then carefully captured and temporarily placed in a container so that the class could get a closer look. “We immediately saw the special color. When we looked up the insect on the internet, we read that this grasshopper is very rare,” says De Greef.
Very rare
According to experts from Natuurmonumenten, the pink discoloration is a very rare appearance. The phenomenon is also called erythrism and can be compared to albinism in humans. Forest ranger Frans Kapteijns also speaks of a ‘very special species’. And certainly in our province the insect is not easy to find. “You mainly see it in more calcareous areas,” Kapteijns explains. “In Limburg, for example.”
