Friday 19 February 2016

genetics - (How) can a pink grasshopper exist?


I saw this foto on Reddit recently: enter image description here


Is this possible? How can a grasshopper become like this? Is this just natural genetic mutation?



Answer



Pink individuals of the katydid species Amblycorypha oblongifolia are a relatively uncommon but natural phenomenon with a long history of research.


It looks from popular press accounts (Science Friday, Scientific American) that the pink coloration may be caused by a dominant allele, and is only rare because of a high selection pressure against pink individuals (i.e. they're much less good at hiding among leaves, and are eaten before they can reproduce).





Photo by Richard Whitby, via flickr.com/blueboat2 (cc-by-sa 2.0)


Photo by Richard Whitby, via flickr.com/blueboat2 (cc-by-sa 2.0)



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