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Blue-winged Grasshopper named Swiss animal of the year

Blue-winged grasshopper
Blue-winged grasshoppers are adaptable to changing habitats and like warm temperatures. Pro Natura/F. Perseke

The conservation group Pro Natura has chosen the Blue-winged Grasshopper as its animal of the year, 2023.

It is one of 115 grasshopper species native to Switzerland and is named after its distinctive azure colouring on its wings.

When its wings are folded, the Blue-winged Grasshopper blends into its surroundings, typically on stony valley floors.

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When disturbed the two centimetre-long insect will jump up and dazzle predators with its colouring before adopting camouflage mode on landing again.

The Blue-winged Grasshopper, also known by its Latin name of Oedipoda caerulescens, thrives in warm conditions and can adapt to human-made terrains such as gravel pits and railway areas.

However, many of its natural habitats have been destroyed over the last 100 years.

This is in common to many of Switzerland’s 30,000 native insect species. Pro Natura says that 60% of Swiss insect species are threatened as a result.

The organisation is calling for meadows and pastures to be protected and for other habitats, like floodplains, to be restored as nature areas.

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SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR