Hot pink and turquoise planthopper nymph in Suriname. All photos by Rhett Butler, unless specified otherwise.
As a follow up to last week’s popular “Unusually Blue Animals” post, here are some animals that are pretty in pink.
Most of the pink animals I’ve photographer over the years are insects, although there are a few birds, none of which is more famous than the flamingo, which derives its pink color from the crustaceans it eats.
Many mammals have pink skin, but I’m excluding these from the list. There is a pink dolphin in the Amazon, but I haven’t taken any quality pictures of the species.
In my travels pink seems to be most commonly found among planthoppers, a type of insect.
Birds
Pink flamingos in Lake Nakuru, Kenya. Photo by Rob Roy.
Chilean Flamingo (Phoenicopterus chilensis)
American Flamingos (Phoenicopterus ruber)
Roseate Spoonbill (Platalea ajaja) in Caño Negro National Wildlife Refuge, Costa Rica
Scarlet Ibis (Eudocimus ruber) in captivity
Australian Pelican (Pelecanus conspicillatus)
Galah (Eolophus roseicapilla)
Salmon-crested Cockatoo
Black Capped Lory
Insects and other arthropods
Pink and purple Homopteran, probably a Flatid or a Fulgorid bug, in Ranomafana, Madagascar
Pink and orange spider-like Acari mite (Trombidiformes order) in Ranomafana, Madagascar.
Flatid leaf bugs (Phromnia rosea) in Isalo, Madagascar
Adult Flatid leaf bugs (Phromnia rosea)
Adult Flatid leaf bugs (Phromnia rosea)
Fuschia-colored adult Flatid leaf bugs (Phromnia rosea) in Isalo National Park, Madagascar
Magenta leaf-hopper in Madagascar
Moth in Madagascar.
Neon pink planthopper in a forest on Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula
Pink planthopper near Punta Laguna, Mexico.
Pink planthopper near Punta Laguna, Mexico.
Orange-pink planthopper in South Kalimantan, Indonesia.
Hot pink and turquoise planthopper nymph in Brownsberg Nature Park, Suriname.
Pink-magenta, orange, and blue butterfly
Raspberry dragonfly in Madagascar in Isalo, Madagascar
Raspberry dragonfly in Madagascar
Raspberry dragonfly in Colombia
Pink, orange, yellow, violet katydid with spots and green eyes in West Papua, Indonesian New Guinea.
Fish