Continent-hopper flies into UK uninvited
Grasshopper never recorded in UK has been found in a plane arriving from India
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Friday, 23, Oct 2009 03:16
By Sarah Garrod
A sneaky grasshopper has been the first of its kind to reach British soil by stowing away on an airplane which landed in London's Stansted airport.
Inspectors working for the Food and Environment Research Agency (Fera) found the insect on a flight which had come in from India.
They identified the insect as the 'painted grasshopper' (Poekilocerus pictus), saying it was the first time such a grasshopper had 'landed' on British soil.
Fera's Sharon Reid, entomologist and invertebrate curator, said: "It is not unusual for Fera's Inspectors to find stray insects in aeroplane holds, but this is the first alive and well painted grasshopper we have seen.
"However, a single insect like this wouldn't be able to reproduce, and is unlikely to survive our UK climate."
The six-centimetre long insect is 'painted' blue and yellow, the purpose of which is to warn birds and other predators (including humans) not to eat them, as they are distasteful.
Fera entomologist Chris Malumphy added: "The visitor has a voracious appetite and rapidly ate its way through a cabbage plant in the quarantine lab. Grasshoppers can consume green forage roughly eight times as fast as cattle in proportion to their weight.
"This insect is an economic pest in Pakistan and India where it is reported damaging a number of food plants including aubergine, citrus, cucurbits, potatoes and tomatoes, though it's primary host is milkweed (Calotrops procera)."
