Fancy raising a small army of grasshoppers? Now’s your chance! - Norfolk Wildlife Trust

We’re excited to be working once again with Citizen Zoo on an inspiring conservation project to help return the large marsh grasshopper to Norfolk and beyond.

This rare and beautiful insect disappeared from East Anglia decades ago, but thanks to our continued partnership and the dedication of volunteers, its story is changing.

The large marsh grasshopper is not only the UK’s largest grasshopper, but one of its rarest. The adults are a vibrant mix of green and yellow with red legs, making it, arguably, our most attractive grasshopper too.

Despite its size, it is often heard before it is seen. Most grasshoppers stridulate, by rubbing a row of pegs on their hind legs against their wings, this creates their familiar vibrating ‘song’. However, the male large marsh grasshoppers call by flicking their back leg off the edge of their wing, which produces a distinctive loud click.

Formerly found across southern and eastern England, habitat loss restricted the species to a few areas of the New Forest, Somerset and Dorset. It is dependent upon healthy functioning peatlands and is mostly restricted to valley mires (lowland peatbogs) now in England, although it was formerly found in a wider range of habitats.