Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Hadrotettix nebulosus S.H. Scudder, 1900. Type locality: Sinaloa, Mexico
Heliastus benjamini Caudell, 1905. Type locality: Huachuca Mountains, Arizona
Explanation of Names
The proper name for this species should be Heliastus nebulosus, since that species name is older than "benjamini". However, that combination of genus and species name has yet to be published, and BugGuide is not a proper place to publish new combinations.
Size
male: 18-23 mm; female: 25-33 mm
(1)Identification
Smallish (mostly under 1.25 inches, i.e., 32 mm, long). Usually grayish or reddish brown (matching substrate), with contrasting dark cross bands. Hind wings basally red to rose-red with faint cloudy dark cross band. Hind femur internally yellow with three black cross bands (one across "knee" and others across mid-section). Hind tibiae basally black with a wide yellow portion then another blackish ring, and the remainder mostly red. Antannae long and dark (especially in males).
Range
southern Arizona, southern New Mexico (north past Santa Fe along Rio Grande valley), and west Texas southward across Sonora, Chihuahua, Durango, and Sinaloa, Mexico; probably into Nayarit.
Habitat
Mostly along arroyos and stream banks (often in canyon bottoms) on gravelly or rocky ground.
Season
Probably overwinters as eggs, hatching in spring, with adults by July or August and remaining into autumn.
