Rare grasshopper thought out of the way rediscovered after 40 years

Monte Gordo’s grasshopper (Eyprepocprifas Insularis) turned out to be a rare and elusive species: its last and, so far, the only observation was only one specimen found in 1980. This is why researcher Dr. Michel Lecoq declared it in 1996.

After more than 40 years without records, an exciting discovery occurred thanks to a Holiday Rob Felix with his colleague researcher Annelies Jacobs in Cape Verde, the only known location of the insect, “to look for birds and other interesting things for field biologists like us.

“During a night walk during our first evening on São Nicolau in a colony of a unique sea birds species, the FEA, I came across a grasshopper sitting on the way. When I looked closer to the light of the pocket lamp, I immediately recognized its unique appearance. I cried out loud: the most easily of the genre.

In the following days, Rob and Annelies found several other specimens in the Monte Gordo natural park and its environment.

Endemic to the island of São Nicolau, this grasshopper is a “living fossil”, which means that it has not changed significantly for millions of years and has little or no living parents.

“E. Insularis must have been there for a very long time and has been able to withstand serious ecological conditions,” write researchers in their article, which was published in the Journal of Orthoptera Research.

This mountain grasshopper has shown remarkable resilience, surviving in the difficult environment of the Cape Verde Islands and lasting periods of intense drought and strong winds which can introduce new species from the African continent.

“The rediscovery of the only endemic brachypter grasshopper (short Germans), Eyyprepocprifas Insularis, on São Nicolau, an island with volcanic origin dating from around five million years, gives a significant overview of the ecological and evolutionary history of the island”, write the researchers.

They say that this rediscovery is a crucial first step towards the conservation of the insect: as a threatened species limited to a small area, E. Insularis could actually be closer to the extinction than we think. Now that it has been found, we have the possibility of taking measures to protect this unique species and its habitat.