This immaculately camouflaged grasshopper was last seen in 1946.
Appalachian field zoologist Andrew Rapp has been finding and identifying grasshoppers for years. As The News & Observer reported, he had a hunch that a rare Appalachian grasshopper species that hadn’t been seen in 80 years wasn’t extinct but was hiding out in a distinct environment. He searched for years and then finally spotted what he was looking for in September.
“The day that I ended up finding it, it was just like, all right, I’m going to this location, I’m staying the whole day, boom or bust, see if we can get this thing,” Rapp said, per the newspaper.
Rapp scoured Augusta County, Virginia, a mountainous region that thousands of through-hikers traverse to complete the Appalachian Trail.
The area’s forests are thick and mature, but the small, flightless Appalachian grasshopper prefers young forests with open spaces, tall grasses, and shrubs. The grasshopper has eluded identification in part because of its “impressive camouflage,” Rapp noted, adding that its range is restricted.
“Appalachian grasshoppers may also be vulnerable to specific insecticides that are meant to target invasive spongy moth caterpillars and have been used in West Virginia and Pennsylvania,” Sarah Kuta of Smithsonian Magazine said. The return of elusive insects such as this is a sign of an increasingly healthy, moderated, and diverse ecosystem.
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Rapp couldn’t believe his luck. “I wanted to be thorough, so I went through that key slowly, methodically, checking length of this and that, shapes, wing structures, and eventually landed on and confirmed that it was an Appalachia hebardi,” he recalled.
Rapp is one of many field zoologists for Virginia’s Department of Conservation and Recreation. This program works to protect natural habitats and parks, improve access to clean water and open space, and inspire Virginians to get outdoors.
Their work of finding and cataloging these species is critical to understanding the health of ecosystems. All species play unique roles in their environments, and when one — even a tiny one like a grasshopper — disappears, it can cause a ripple effect throughout the food chain.
The rediscovery of rare insects can also give researchers vital information about which habitats are flourishing and point to trends.
“This discovery is a testament to the great work you all do and the abilities of your staff!” one Instagram commenter wrote.
The News & Observer reported that in 2007 a scientist on NatureServe said, “Probably no living person has any field experience with this species.” That’s no longer the case, thanks to Rapp and his fellow field zoologists.
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