Back to the natural environment

After having been reared to maturity in terrariums at the ex situ breeding sites – the zoological garden La Barben and the breeding station in Corrèze – our new generation of grasshoppers has mated. The females have laid numerous eggpods which must now be transferred to the Crau soil.

This return to the natural environment is necessary to allow the eggs to develop in natural conditions. This increases the probability of the eggs hatching the following spring. The eggpods are placed in the soil, at a depth equivalent to that of where the female lays. They are placed in aviaries in well-defined and labelled locations, and their evolution will be closely monitored throughout the period between July and April (predation, vegetation growth, damaged soil…).

The first transfer of eggpods took place on 7 June from the zoological garden La Barben. So far, 66 eggpods have been brought back to the Crau, and this is just the beginning. These transfers will continue until July, as the captured grasshoppers reproduce and lay eggs. We will soon receive more.

What is an eggpod?

It is the agglomeration of about 16-18 eggs laid simultaneously, protected by a kind of moss produced by the female during the laying of eggs and which hardens with the soil around it to form a small “pot”.