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A Welsh man was in for the surprise of a lifetime when he spotted a hot pink grasshopper among his garden flowers.

As the man was tending to his plants in Llandegfan, Anglesey, Gary Phillips stumbled upon a shockingly bright little fellow hopping across his lawn. The gardener, 65, was able to snap some photos of the rare creature and shared the story — and photos — with the BBC.

The first thing that caught Phillips’ eye was the “vivid color” of the insect, something he hadn’t seen before. “I had to proper focus on what I’d seen, and realized it was a pink grasshopper which I thought has got to be rare,” he said.

The pink grasshoppers are the result of an apparent genetic mutation, which may make them a target for prey. They can be found anywhere grasshoppers are common — though not often. Recently, the rare color variation has made the news in the U.S., too, as another pink grasshopper caught the eye of Texans in May.

Part of the reason sightings of these pink grasshoppers are uncommon is because, well, most people aren’t actively on the hunt for grasshoppers in their daily lives. “If you look closely for them in any meadow, the chances of seeing them are actually very high,” insect expert, Paul Hetherington, told BBC.

Phillips’ story isn’t the only incredible insect-related tale from the first half of 2023. Another wild bug, known as a Polystoechotes punctata or giant lacewing, was discovered this year after a man captured the flying insect at a Walmart in 2012. The bug is actually from the Jurassic Era — and has rarely been seen as of late.

Michael Skvarla, the director of the Insect Identification Lab at Penn State, mounted the bug in his home for over a decade before realizing the gravity of the discovery. The bug had been virtually untraceable since the 1950s.

Soucre: people.com