Welcome back, little fella!

A SMALL colony of the Key's Matchstick Grasshopper found at Tolmie only last year may have saved this tiny species from extinction. The species was thought to have been extinct for 50 years until discovered in 2018 in Omeo. However, the translocated grasshoppers were also caught at the state's southern most colony in Tolmie which was discovered only last year (2024). Last week, young second-generation hatchlings were found inside the Euroa Arboretum. Because the insect moves between about one to ten metres in a year, the expansion of the population is expected to be a slow-moving ripple. Easy satisfaction with its location, a lack of wings, and an inability to actually hop has made it a difficult journey for a little grasshopper to come back from the brink of its assumed extinction. Key’s matchstick grasshopper (Keyacris scurra) may be uninspiring to the backyard insect chaser, but has proven an inspiration for a handful of determined scientists who have ensured the insect is bouncing back. Without actually bouncing. One hundred of the grasshoppers were released at The Euroa Arboretum last spring (The Euroa Gazette, September 24) after researchers there joined conservationists from Zoos Victoria and The University of Melbourne as part of a translocation project for the species. The project appears to be paying off. The Arboretum’s grassy groundcover restoration coordinator Bronte Haines in Binney Street on Monday, was excited last week at having just seen her first specimen that morning after three months of searching. “They are so hard to spot,” Ms Haines said. “That was the first one I ever saw – they are so non-descript, they are not colourful, and they don’t even hop! “Which is why they are endangered.” The Arboretum is one of several translocation sites across Victoria which are part of a breeding and release program managed by the three conservation groups. After not being able to see a single grasshopper since their release, Ms Haines' first sighting then became a feast with 38 found on the same day. "It’s so funny because I couldn't find one for forever – I don't know what it is – because I am always out there looking for plants maybe," Ms Haines said. "So to put another pair of glasses on and look at insects was different, so that was a learning experience in itself, and it paid off." The insect’s preferred food source is the yellow-flowered native clustered everlasting (Chrysocephalum semipapposum) which the Arboretum has been able to nurture among the other native grasses and groundcovers grown at the site. Zoos Victoria conservation officer Jessie Sinclair said she was thrilled at finding the 'gorgeous little dudes' last week. "It is a really important idea to remember that invertebrates are animals too," Ms Sinclair said. "These grasshoppers are uniquely Australian and were here before we were, living throughout the southeast of Australia and now there is only about two per cent of habitat vegetation left for them." Ms Sinclair said the grasshopper's role in the food chain was important in terms of the species' unusual reproductive timing, due to them living right through winter to lay eggs in summer, unlike other grasshoppers. "They sit out the cold, and when their predators then come out for food at the start of spring, they see these mature insects that are a nice big package of protein," she said. "So they are in some ways a sort of missing link in having that early spring protein supply for the birds and reptiles that eat them." Other predators include mantids, spiders, and katydids. "Grasslands can be diverse with predators, but we don't want the grasshoppers being too big a diet for others until they are established. "Keeping that balance is hard in this changing climate." The 27-hectare Arboretum was established in 1990 on the former dumping site for the Hume Highway bypass construction. The success of the tourist destination is largely attributed to the effort of the arboretum's development manager Cath Olive, and Ms Haines was in praise of the site's founder. "The reason we have this grassland and a very high-quality habitat for the grasshoppers is because of Cath," she said. "Cath was brave and did the scalping of the top 10cm of the land and then resowed over 60 different species of indigenous grasses and ground cover onto the site." Ms Sinclair said the success of the grasshopper was 'icing on the cake' for the success of the now thriving location and that the choice of Arboretum had more than just 'ticked all the boxes' as a conservation site. "It is also a community asset that is creating engagement and conversations about conservation," she said. "It's to protect a subset of the grasshoppers population, sure, but there are probably more people down the main street of Euroa chatting about this grasshopper than six months ago." Not just Bronte Haines.