Spot a jewel in the wild

Jewel Bug and Painted Grasshopper

While you may dislike those whirring grasshoppers, have you spotted a beautiful cobalt blue-yellow Painted Grasshopper or for that matter, a gold-tinged Jewel Bug?

Jewel Bug

If not, sign up for Insect Walk, the first insect nature trail organised by iNaturewatch Foundation, a charitable trust established in 2014. "The idea is to spread awareness about insects.

While most nature trails focus on butterflies, there are many other insects which are as elegant and colourful," says Priti Choghale, projects manager at the foundation.

Painted Grasshopper

The trail, to be held this Sunday at Valley Park in CBD Belapur, will be conducted by Dr V Shubhalaxmi, an entomologist, who has worked with Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) for 21 years. She currently heads a social enterprise, Ladybird Environmental Consulting.

"Valley Park is a 50-hectare, thickly-wooded, wilderness expanse that makes it an insect hub during monsoon. Besides, CIDCO has plans to develop it into a nature park, so we chose it as a venue for the trail," says Dr Shubhalaxmi, also known as the Moth Lady for she holds a doctoral degree on moths and conducts moth researches across the country.

Besides butterflies, you can spot Painted Grasshopper, Bagworm Moth, Jewel Bug, Carpenter Bee, Spittlebug along with dragonflies, damselflies and stink bugs.