Field Guide to Grasshoppers, Katydids, and Crickets of the United States

The blue hind wings of this species immediately suggest its identity, though this is apparent only when the grasshopper is in flight. It is large, brownish gray, and the forewings are marked with three broad black bands or spots separated by narrow lighter areas. Hind wings are blue or turquiose basally, and bear a black band that sometimes is quite wide, occupying most of the hind wing. Hind tibiae are blue. Males are 24-40 mm long, females 35-49 mm.

This species is superficially similar to Hadrotettix species, but the blue hind wings distinguish it. Saussure's blue-winged grasshopper is also similar to Wheeler's blue-winged grasshopper, Leprus wheeleri, though in this latter species the base of the hind wings is greenish yellow and the hind tibiae pale blue or grayish.