Some Orthoptera are among the most destructive of insects, while others are most revered for their songs. This Order of insects include grasshoppers, locusts, crickets, and katydids. A California camouflage specialist, this grasshopper can be very hard to spot against the tiny granite chips of a dry river bed. The mottling pattern of similarly colored and size splotches of color successfully distracts our attention away from the delineation of the insect's outline and compliments the uniformity of the scene.
Males spend their days making rattlesnake-like buzzing sounds to attract females.
If disturbed, they leap up with a flash of their brightly colored under wings and make impressive cracking sounds in flight before landing and consequently disappearing.