is not (or only poorly) documented from Colorado but it is there. They favor areas with relatively lush dicot (usually woody) vegetation, often near marshes, ponds, in arroyos, etc, but for some reason not so much along the larger water courses such as the Arkansas River itself. Sometimes the species is temporarily very common along roadsides where formally brush covered land has been plowed (where the insects may occupy the roadside vegetation in large numbers for some years after), but this is usually temporary. I don't know their western limit in Colorado, but they are in the area south from Lamar and Holly to Oklahoma, and north from Holly close to the state line to near Burlington. Mostly they are NOT common in Colorado, but only 50 miles or so into Kansas they can be much more abundant. I haven't seen these in northeastern Colorado yet (or I don't recall seeing them anyway), nor in western Nebraska, though I'll bet they also occur in the Republican River drainage in areas like Bonny Reservoir and around Wray.

Green S. lineata occur on the plains too, mostly associated with riperian vegetation along the main watercourses. These are usually a lighter and brighter green, and usually have bright red hind tibia, occasionally yellowish or brownish, but not black. The heads are proportionately larger in S. lineata, and the large yellow spots on the sides of the thorax are often totally missing. Dark bars on the outer face, and upper edge of the hind femora are usually not as developed, and the inner face is usually lighter and plainer as well. It's worth noting though that coloration in S. lineata varies greatly, and no single one of these traits is totally reliable. I've never seen an S. obscura with red hind tibiae, but they may occur. Male S. obscura do not have the middle and front femora much thickened, while in S. lineata they are prominently so, though this doesn't help with females.

S. shoshone does not occur in Colorado (the closest I know of are in the Page Arizona to Capital Reef Utah area, and the Espanola area in New Mexico). but there is so much confusion between S. shoshone and green S. lineata that published records are often incorrect for either one. Green S. lineata from Colorado are often called S. shoshone, but I've never seen a real specimen from the state. Western S. lineata and S. shoshone are not separable by morphological traits, but coloration and behavior are different, and when they occur together in the same area, they remain distinct from one-another. The names are badly confused and mixed in literature.

I have seen anecdotal reports of S. albolineata from eastern Colorado, and these could have been based on S. obscura.

Also, I'm guessing she was perhaps a bit larger, perhaps closer to 5 or even 6 cm.?

Moved from Bird Grasshoppers.

Moved from ID Request.
It reminds me of S. obscure but not sure of that species is found in Colorado or not. Otherwise it's probably S. lineata.