Overview
- DOC ranger Jen Schori recorded the deep pink female near Lake Takapō during the annual Mackenzie Basin survey.
- Photo and video released by the department corroborated long-rumoured reports of unusually coloured robust grasshoppers.
- The robust grasshopper (Sigaus robustus) is New Zealand’s largest lowland grasshopper, restricted to braided-river margins in the Mackenzie Basin.
- DOC estimates only 250–1,000 adults remain, with risks from habitat loss, climate warming, and introduced predators such as hedgehogs, cats, and birds.
- Females are about double the size of males, depend on sun-warming to feed and mature eggs, and are strong jumpers known for clumsy landings.