I just got Vol II of The North American Grasshoppers and have been pouring over the book and my photos for way too long ;o) I'm wondering if the whole lot of these guys shouldn't be thrown in with T. fontana after all.

Is there an option in any of the keys etc. for a green winged T. koebelei? Also, Otte, in the species description for T. fontana, seems to place the emphasis on using a gradual versus sudden transition of color on the lateral versus dorsal fields to separate T. koebelei and T. fontana and these guys seem to fit better with gradual (including those filed under T. koebelei). T. koebelei also is said to inhabit areas dominated by conifers according to Otte and these guys have all been from chaparral, mixed chaparral oak woodland or coastal scrub habitats.

For separating from T. occidentalis, Otte says that the crossbands are usually distinct on the dorsal field (but then again T. fontana isn't usually supposed to have green wings). Otte also says that T. occidentalis undergoes a period of reproductive dormancy with breeding for that species typically starting in late August (I'm not sure if this is specific to just the central valley CA populations or extends to the coastal), but the presence of crepitating males, might point to T. fontana? These guys were also not associated with serpentine as Otte says T. occidentalis tends to be.

If I can get some free time, maybe I'll head out to some areas with serpentine and see what I can find there... Or head back out to West Camino Cielo and see if I can spot any femora shaking...

Looking back at my posts, I realize I said no one was crepitating when I posted the pics. I was back up there 18 July and did have crepitating males at that time.

young (not adult for long), but later in the season they may become quite noisy. There are several species recorded in the literature as being silent, but that can and do crepitate. It may have something to do with sexual maturity, or maybe just plain becoming mature. Also, in many species it is stated consistently that females do not crepitate; however, my experience is that if the male can, usually the female can too, she just doesn't do it often. It makes it difficult to document if some species have females that can't, and other have females that just usually choose not to.

On a side note - there are species that are reported as crepitating, that absolutely do not. Some of the larger species in particular, where the act of flying creates a rustling or rapid "flapping" sound, but not actual crepitation.