Species Trimerotropis albescens - McNeill's White Grasshopper

Varied color, usually pale whitish, but sometimes pinkish, reddish, brown, or even bluish. Small, with distinct narrow cross bands on the tegmina that cross over the top. The band closest to the base and the one in middle further apart near the costal margin (bottom edge when folded) than at the anal margin (top when folded). The third band usually broken and irregular. Often with dark markings on the pronotum and often dark bands on on all of the femora. Hind tibia blue. Hind wings pale yellow with dark cross band often faded looking and not curving much if any around the outer margin of the wing toward the base. Pronotum with lower rear corners on side flared outward (best seen from above).

Similar in coloration to T. incospicua (which is found mostly further east) and T. bifasciata (found mostly further west, and is stockier with top of pronotum more rounded and head larger), but differs from both in the flared out sides on the pronotum. The flight crepitation doesn't seem to be well documented, but my memory (Dave Ferguson's observation - needs double-checked) is that it is an uninterrupted buzzing.

Can be confused with a few other small banded Trimerotropis with bluish hind tibiae, but most occur further west or (in south) can be distinguished by habitat preference, different behavior and lack of the flared out pronotum. Most often in those species the dark bands do not cross the top of the folded tegmina, but there are exceptions.

Mostly eastern Californa and adjacent Nevada along the east side of the Sierra Nevada; further south in southern California and northern Baja California occurs west of the deserts to near the coast.

Gravelly or sandy patches in open woodland and grasslands, mostly slopes and hilly areas above the desert.

Adults June to frost (usually uncommon after mid September)

Overwinters as eggs laid in ground.

Closely related to Trimerotropis arenacea and T. whitei, but those are from further east, and have different markings different (T. albescens usually has more distinct bands across the tegmina and is "smoother" less speckled looking). It is likely, but unproven, that T. albescens intergrades with T. arenacea to the north and east, just as T. whitei blends with T. arenacea in Utah and Arizona.

For some reason this species seems to not often be noticed, photographed, nor collected, even though it occurs in well-populated places such as the Los Angeles area.