At 10 years old, Madeline Landecker of Benton has been examining bugs for most of her life, and a discovery earlier this month landed her in the Washington Post. After checking on her family’s chickens after school on March 14, the aspiring veterinarian came across a rare pink grasshopper, which she named Millie. Due to a genetic mutation called erythrism, these grasshoppers develop a reddish color that makes them more susceptible to being spotted by predators — and therefore less likely to reach adulthood.
Millie is safe for now, though, “being kept for the time being in a plastic container in her home, the same container used to carry her find to school on Friday, where her friends know her as a ‘bug expert,’” she told KARK.
“I’m not ready to release her yet,” Madeline told the Washington Post, “because I want to study her some more and do research.”