Tristan Eustace finds pink grasshopper at Goatee Beach

But pink grasshopper is the name given to a small number of insects who rarely make it into adulthood because of their distinctive colouring.

Now one has been found on the western shores of Southampton Water.

Six-year-old Tristan Eustace made the unusual discovery after he and other members of the family went for a picnic at Goatee Beach, near Totton.

After finishing their food Tristan and his father Richard set off on one of their regular bug hunts.

His mother Cassie said: "We'd only been there about half an hour when Tristan saw a pink grasshopper jumping about and came running over to show me before setting it free.

"Tristan loves catching grasshoppers and had only ever seen green ones. He was thrilled to have found a pink one."

Grasshoppers are usually green or brown or a combination of the two, which helps them blend in with their grassy surroundings.

Experts say pink grasshoppers owe their colouring to a genetic condition called erythrism, thought to be at least partly responsible for freckles and red hair in humans. Their distinctive appearance makes them an easy target for predators and only a few make it to adulthood.

Tristan, a pupil at Netley Marsh Infant School, is thought to have found a meadow grasshopper.

Young female meadow grasshoppers can be a pink or purple-red colour but those who live long enough eventually turn green. They are not a rare species but bright pink ones are seen only occasionally.

Goatee Breach, once the haunt of smugglers, is a popular leisure area used by a large number of Totton residents.

The "sweet fields" that Christian minister Isaac Watts saw from across Southampton Water were used as a camping ground by the Black Prince in 1346 before he sailed to join his father, Edward III.

Standards fluttered again in 1415, when 668 knights gathered on or near Goatee Beach on their way to fight in the Battle of Agincourt.