First hatchings 2023

Whether in the wild, in our breeding aviaries, or indoors in ex situ breeding centres, beautiful, tiny grasshoppers emerge from their egg after many months of development.

Now measuring only 1 cm, the juveniles will go through 5 stages until they become adults and measure between 3.5 (males) and 4.5 cm (females).

The very first observation was made in the Crau by our trainee Manon SCHAAN, who currently spends almost all her time in the field studying thyme. Congratulations to her for her sharp eye and attention to detail!

This month of April and these hatchlings mark for the LIFE team the beginning of the field work around the Crau Plain Grasshopper.

On the programme:

• installation of a mobile fence at Peau de Meau, in order to reduce the risk of predation by the cattle egrets that often accompany sheep flocks;
• for the first time, the search for eggpods by a detection dog, in the Crau after the hatching;
• monitoring of Crau Plain Grasshopper populations;
• searching for the species at a site with historical observations or in areas where the species has never been looked for.

We hope that all these actions will be successful and will allow the 2023 generation of grasshoppers to “take flight”!