Moved from Dragon Lubbers.

Hi, At Mt. Diablo it would be D. monstrosus. I am aware of three species in the genus. D. monstrosus is found from the Sierra Nevada to the coast. D. plutonius is found east from the Owens Valley, and D. newboldi has longer wings and is found in Baja California. Oh, and it looks like this old "guy" is a girl if I'm seeing the rear end clearly. These are among the coolest N.American grasshoppers there are (I think). Toad Lubbers are up there too (Phrynotettix).

Moved from Grasshoppers, Katydids and Crickets.

Looks a lot like the drawing of the gray dragon lubber grasshopper (Dracotettix monstrosus) in my grasshopper book. The description also fits nicely and yes, it's found in California. There's supposed to be at least one related species in your region--the dusky dragon lubber (Dracotettix plutonius)--that's described as having not quite so extreme a thorax crest or head protuberance, and maybe something else...not quite sure on exactly how many Dracotettix species there even are... I did stumble across the following interesting info while looking for an on-line image of this grasshopper. It was on the tropical-horticulture.org site...go figure!

'Review of the grasshopper genera Dracotettix and Litoscirtus (Orthoptera: Romaleidae), with a discussion of their origins and life histories

Lightfoot, D. C.; Weissman, D. B. 1991

Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences 47(5): 159-174

The genera Litoscirtus and Dracotettix constitute the tribe Dracotettigini, which is autochthonous in California, Nevada and Baja California, Mexico. A new species is described and the internal male genitalia of all 5 species are compared. New distributional and ecological data are given for all taxa and a phylogenetic history for the tribe is suggested. Parsimony analysis indicated that Litoscirtus (southern) is the sister group of Dracotettix (northern), a finding consistent with the primarily tropical distribution of the family Romaleidae. The concealed male genitalia of all 5 species are similar and share characteristic laterally flared dorsal aedaegal valves. Adult females of all species can become reproductively dormant to pass the prolonged dry summers of the Mediterranean-type climate of California. This ability is geographically variable in D. monstrosus, as females from both mesic northern and some southern Californian areas remain reproductively active into the summer, but die soon after. In more xeric southern Californian populations, females enter reproductive dormancy in spring without having oviposited, become reproductively active in the autumn, mate, oviposit and have adult life spans of up to 10 months. Timing of reproductive dormancy is also variable because of climatic differences in different areas. L. insularis from the central Baja California peninsula may be reproductively active during summer, when the area receives rain.'

The above from:
http://tropical-horticulture.org/05/14/051401.html