A rare pink grasshopper was discovered by a three-year-old exploring his Austin, Texas garden earlier this week. An image of the candy-colored insect was shared by the boy's mother Allison Barger, according to KXAN, an NBC affiliate.

Allison Barger

Why is the grasshopper pink? It's the result of a genetic mutation, National Geographic Explorer and Research Director for the Translyvania Wildlife Project Victoria Hillman said, according to KXAN. During her field season, Hillman and her team found six such grasshoppers in their early nymph stages.

"How many of you have seen a pink grasshopper in the wild?" Hillman writes in a 2013 blog post. "I certainly hadn't and didn't even know you could have a pink grasshopper, let alone actually see one for real in the wild!"

"They do exist but rarely make it to adulthood as they are easily picked off by predators as they are so conspicuous against the green foliage compared to the normal green and brownish morphs which is one of the reasons they are hardly ever seen, the other reason I will explain below," she adds.