Stephen Lewis was working in his yard when he saw something peculiar.
“At first, I wasn’t sure what it was. I thought it was a grasshopper, but I’d never seen a pink grasshopper,” Lewis said.
But there was something: a bright pink insect, sticking upon one of the garden tomato plants and unbothered by Lewis continuing to work around it.
The strange sight prompted him to snap some photos and send them to his wife, Hazel, and their children. From there, Hazel was on the case: she did some research and quickly determined that there was a reason this sight seemed so very unique.
“She said that it was rare. I said, ‘Oh, really?’” said Stephen.
It turns out it was a katydid, and it is believed rare genetic mutation causes the pink shade. The scarcity makes sense: pink insects don’t often reach adulthood because the bright color isn’t an effective camouflage against predators. Natural selection wins out and the pink insects don’t tend to multiply. The mutation is called erythrism, which is caused by the overproduction of red pigments and the underproduction of dark pigments. Katydids are quite rare and very few see one in their lifetime.
After speaking with his wife, Stephen returned to the garden to see if his new friend was still around. It was, and Stephen captured it – moving it gently into a jar with ventilation.
“It never moved or tried to get away,” the Hahnville resident said.
Hazel went out and got a more proper home for the insect to live in for the time being.
“I was very excited,” Hazel said. “And the kids were really excited about it. My niece asked if it was worth a million dollars.”
Stephen said it’s been a joy to see the reactions of his family members, especially the younger ones.
“It’s quite an eyecatcher. Seeing the kids’ faces is priceless,” he said.
While the katydid won’t yield the million-dollar bounty Lewis’ niece imagined, there is quite a bit of interest in it at the insect’s next stop. Stephen recalled that a new insectarium – the Audubon Insectarium – was opened in New Orleans this month. The family contacted staff with the insectarium and will be donating the katydid.
“We contacted them right away and they were pretty happy,” Stephen said. “It’s a rare find and it’ll be a great place for people to go and see what it looks like.”
As rare as it may be in general, recent days have been a windfall for the insectarium – in addition to the Lewis’ donation, a Thibodaux woman – Mary Vesich Phuphanich – found a pink katydid in her yard and donated it to Audubon this month.
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