Scientists rejoice as happy SA hopper springs back to life

A bright green grasshopper, last seen 46 years ago, has been rediscovered in the small Umtamvuna Nature Reserve on the border of KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape.

The granulate bladder grasshopper (Prostalia granulata) is an endangered insect last recorded by scientists in 1980.

It was spotted by chance just before Christmas in the Umtamvuna reserve near Port Edward by Dr Adrian Armstrong, a senior animal scientist from the Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife conservation agency.

Covering just over 3,200 ha, Umtamvuna Nature Reserve is a long, thin reserve full of steep rocky cliffs, indigenous forest and patches of grassland.

“This discovery highlights how even relatively small protected areas can play a vital role in conserving South Africa’s biodiversity, including species that are rarely seen and poorly understood,” said Armstrong, Ezemvelo’s herpetofauna and invertebrates fundi.

Previously, the granulate bladder grasshopper was known from only three imprecise historical locations in Mpumalanga, the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands and the Eastern Cape.

Its surprise rediscovery so close to the coastline has helped to improve scientific understanding of the species’ geographic range – while also reinforcing the conservation value of the Umtamvuna reserve.

The most comprehensive global report on ecosystem health estimates that nearly one million species of life are now threatened with extinction, many within decades. The IPBES Global Assessment Report on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services further notes that there are nearly eight million animal and plant species globally (which includes about 5.5 million insect species).

Armstrong was delighted by his discovery, but notes that Umtamvuna Nature Reserve still faces several threats, including illegal livestock grazing, unauthorised burning and not enough funding. Another potential threat to the rediscovered grasshopper, he says, is the aerial drift of pesticides from neighbouring macadamia nut orchards. DM