as undefinable. It can't be distinguished in any reliable way, and most Entomologists are treating it as an absolute synonym now anyway. I was a die-hard, but have been trying to sort eastern specimens to one ssp. or the other, and it can't be done. Specimens from the same location come out to both. Only along the Atlantic coastal strand and Great Lakes shore do "typical" T. maritima seem to be constsistently recognizable (almost). And this one - it could pass as a typical maritima from the north Atlantic coast! (except the hind tibiae are red instead of yellow).

with calling it citrina. So, I'll take the plung :o)

Moved from Trimerotropis.

Moved from Pallid-winged Grasshopper.

but most are based on "perhaps" sort of reasoning. Im actually pretty sure that this girl is Trimerotropis maritima citrina. I've never been able to verify this species from Arizona (at least not to my satisfaction), though it has been recorded from the state (dubiously). Tinkham published some photos from north of the rim that look to be T. maritima (calling them T. latifasciata as I recall), but I've not seen the specimens themselves yet, and they could be something else. T. maritima is common along the Rio Grande, Pecos, and up some of their tributaries in New Mexico (and maybe still - definitely formerly - along the upper San Juan River valley). Since it is a powerful flyer and wide-ranging species, it's not too hard to accept that this could be T. maritima even from so far west. Seeing the wings would help nail it down for sure.

Records of its occurrence in Wyoming and Colorado were "pooh-poohed" for a period of several decades, and many specimens so-named were wrongly identified, but it turns out that it really does enter both states along the Platte and Arkansas drainages.

Other possibilities for yours would involve this being an oddly colored individual of some other species, in which the dark pronotal cross bands are not developed normally. However, the shape of the pronotum and the proportions don't favor any of these other species (size would make T. californica, T. melanoptera or T. latifasciata the only other likely candidates).

Just out of curiousity, was it found in a sandy area? That would also favor it being T. maritima. The species is usually found in fairly extensive sandy areas near or along water courses (at least in the Great Plains and westward). I see a Willow leaf, which is a common associate of the species.

This is something else, but probably still a Trimerotropis. You seem to have a knack for getting unique species, Philip:-) I hope Dave Ferguson knows this one....