McNeill's White Grasshopper

Varied color, usually pale whitish, but sometimes pinkish, reddish, brown, or even bluish. Small, with distinct narrow cross bands on the tegmina that cross over the top. The band closest to the wing base and the one in middle are further apart near the costal margin (bottom edge with wings folded) than at the anal margin (top when folded). The third band usually broken and irregular. Often with dark markings on the pronotum and often dark bands on on all of the femora. Hind tibia blue. Hind wings pale yellow with dark cross band often faded looking and not curving much if any around the outer margin of the wing toward the base. Pronotum with lower rear corners on side flared outward (best seen from above). Similar in coloration to T. incospicua (which is found mostly further east) and T. bifasciata (found mostly further west, and is stockier with top of pronotum more rounded and head larger), but differs from both in the flared out sides on the pronotum. The flight crepitation is an uninterrupted relatively loud and harsh buzzing (especially for the small size of the insect). T. arenacea and T. whitei are very similar in size and structurally, but are less strongly and sharply contrasing in coloration, and the cross bands of the tegmina are usually less developed. T. whitei has yellow to red hind tibiae. Both occur on sand further to the east. Can be confused with a few other small banded Trimerotropis with bluish hind tibiae, but most occur further west or (in south) can be distinguished by habitat preference, different behavior and lack of the flared out pronotum. Most often in those species the dark bands do not cross the top of the folded tegmina, but there are exceptions. Closely related to Trimerotropis arenacea and T. whitei , but those are from further east, and have different markings different ( T. albescens usually has more distinct bands across the tegmina and is smoother less speckled looking). It is likely, but unproven, that T. albescens intergrades with T. arenacea to the north and east, just as T. whitei likely blends with T. arenacea in Utah and Arizona. For some reason this species seems to not often be noticed, photographed, nor collected, even though it occurs in well-populated places such as the Los Angeles area.