Stowaway grasshopper is UK first

A lone grasshopper never before seen in the UK arrived on a flight into Stansted Airport last week.

The so-called painted grasshopper (Poekilocerus pictus) arrived from India, where it is known as crop-munching pest.

The 6cm-long insect sports bright blue and yellow colours to warn potential predators that it is not all that tasty a treat.

The specimen was identified by the Food and Environment Research Agency (Fera).

"The visitor has a voracious appetite and rapidly ate its way through a cabbage plant in the quarantine lab," said Fera entomologist Chris Malumphy.

"Grasshoppers can consume green forage roughly eight times as fast as cattle in proportion to their weight."

Fera said that animal stowaways are not at all uncommon, and insects imported accidentally or otherwise can pose a significant risk to crops if they end up in the local ecosystem.

However, the lone visitor will not be able to reproduce, and Fera said it would have been unlikely to survive the UK climate - meaning it poses none of the dangers it does at home.

"This insect is an economic pest in Pakistan and India where it is reported damaging a number of food plants including aubergine, citrus, cucurbits, potatoes and tomatoes," Dr Malumphy said.