The insect was found by 11-year-old Daniel Tate who thought it was a flower until he saw it jump and then he realised it was a grasshopper.
The insect was later identified by wildlife officers as an adult female common green grasshopper, which has been born pink.
Daniel, who attended the wildlife event at Seaton Marshes, near Sidmouth, Devon, with his great grandfather, said: "I was looking for grasshoppers when I saw something pink.
"I thought it was a flower but I saw it moving, so I tried to catch it. It jumped and then I knew it was a grasshopper."
He added: “I was really excited to hear that no one else had found a pink grasshopper at that place before.”
Fraser Rush, nature reserves officer for East Devon District Council, said: “There are millions of common green grasshoppers but I have never seen a pink one. The female comes in a variety of colours, normally different shades of green and brown. Occasionally it tends towards purple, but this is a leap beyond that to pink.”
He added: “Pink grasshoppers are unusual but not unheard of. However the intensity of the pink in this case must make it highly unusual.”
Mr Rush said the pink grasshopper was “a natural variety of the species, albeit a rare one. It has not been caused by any mutation, or any environmental effects.”
He added: “There is a chance it will have bred already and will pass on its pink gene.”
After being studied the grasshopper was released back into the reserve.
Charter boat captain Erik Rue, 42, photographed the animal, which is actually an albino, when he began studying it after the mammal first surfaced in Lake Calcasieu, an inland saltwater estuary, north of the Gulf of Mexico in southwestern USA.
Capt Rue originally saw the dolphin, which also has reddish eyes, swimming with a pod of four other dolphins, with one appearing to be its mother which never left its side.
He said: "I just happened to see a little pod of dolphins, and I noticed one that was a little lighter.
"It was absolutely stunningly pink.
"I had never seen anything like it. It's the same color throughout the whole body and it looks like it just came out of a paint booth.
"The dolphin appears to be healthy and normal other than its coloration, which is quite beautiful and stunningly pink.
"The mammal is entirely pink from tip to tail and has reddish eyes indicating its albinism. The skin appears smooth, glossy pink and without flaws.
"I have personally spotted the pink dolphin 40 to 50 times in the time since the original sighting as it has apparently taken up residence with its family in the Calcasieu ship channel.
"As time has passed the young mammal has grown and sometimes ventures away from its mother to feed and play but always remains in the vicinity of the pod.
"Surprisingly, it does not appear to be drastically affected by the environment or sunlight as might be expected considering its condition, although it tends to remain below the surface a little more than the others in the pod."
Regina Asmutis-Silvia, senior biologist with the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society, said: "I have never seen a dolphin coloured in this way in all my career.
"It is a truly beautiful dolphin but people should be careful, as with any dolphins, to respect it - observe from a distance, limit their time watching, don't chase or harass it.
"While this animal looks pink, it is an albino which you can notice in the pink eyes.
"Albinism is a genetic trait and it unclear as to the type of albinism this animal inherited."
A close relation of dolphins, the Amazon River Botos, called pink dolphins, live in South America in the Amazon.
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