Subspecies Mermiria bivittata bivittata

Opsomala bivittata Serville, 1839, neotype from Lane, South Carolina

Color usually richer than ssp. maculipennis, found further southeastward (east from e. NE, e. KS, cent. OK, and e. TX). Males lack the pale subcostal stripe on the tegmina (on the lower sides when wings are folded). The face averages less sloping in this subspecies, so the head tends to look a bit more pointed in ssp. maculipennis. Green individuals are more likely to be seen in this subspecies.

There is some question as to whether Mermiria bivittata and insects named maculipennis are really part of the same species, since there are apparently significant chromosomal differences. Authors variously treat them as different species, or as subspecies of M. bivittata, with the later treatment most common in recent decades.

Rehn, J. A. G., 1900, 'A Study of the Orthopterous genus Mermiria', Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, 71: 55-120.

Jago, N. D., 1969, 'A Revision of the Systematics and Taxonomy of Certain North American Gomphocerine Grasshoppers, Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, 121(7): 229-335.

Daniel Otte, 1981, The North American Grasshoppers vol 1: 181