Somewhat stocky of build with large rounded head, and usually of pale color with contrasting narrow dark bands across tegmina. Hind wings broad, usually light bright yellow (may appear slightly greenish or bluish in flight due to sometimes bluish coloring of veins), crossed near middle (or just beyond) by bold well-defined and usually curved black cross band; hind wing apex nearly or quite clear, often with some of the veins whitish. Hind tibiae orange to red (rarely yellowish). Outer face of hind femur usually pale with one bold diagonal subapical dark cross band, but sometimes there are two or three; inner face yellowish to reddish with variable black markings, but usually black covers at least half of inner face, with basal half or more mostly black. Pronotum tending to be somewhat roof-like dorsally (not flat) with very low and rather inconspicuous median ridge, and with top tending to round into sides without much of an angle. Flight crepitation is a fairly loud and harsh continuous "buzz" that could also be described as a "crackling" sound.

Closely similar to Spharagemon equale; differing in usually more constrasting color pattern with cross bands of tegmina often narrower and more sharply defined; hind femora usually with more black (and often less red) internally); with median ridge of pronotum less elevated and thus not as distinct. This species is rarely found off of rocky/gravelly areas in grassland or open woodlan, while S. equale is more general in habitat preferences (still mostly in grassland areas though). Specimens occur which cannot be placed with confidence within one species or the other.

T. pistrinaria also can be similar to Trimerotropis californica, which is somewhat more slender, usually with longer wings and a proportionately smaller and more strongly sculpted head. T. californica usually has a tooth projecting from the lower rear corner of the lateral lobes of the pronotum, and the top of the pronotum is less "roof-like" with the principal sulcus often more deeply sunken into a depression. Mostly T. californica is found further west than T. pistrinaria, but sometimes they are found together.

There is some evidence that T. pistrinaria may hybridize with both of the above species as well as with T. inconspicua in certain areas, but there has been no in depth study to substantiate this.

T. inconspicua may look very similar, but it is smaller, with yellow to greenish or blue hind tibiae, usually with the dark band of the hind wing less intense and rather cloudy. T. inconspicua is found mostly further west, and does not crepitate as loudly. T. bifasciata from Oregon and California is also very similar to T. pistrinaria (but is more like T. inconspicua); it has blue hind tibiae and a fainter dark wing band than T. pistrinaria.

Spharagemon (or Trimerotropis) campestris is also similar, but is usually smaller with a proportionately smaller and more sculptured head; the top of the pronotum is flatter with the lateral edges usually more defined; and, the inner hind femur is mostly reddish with only a little or no black. It sounds the same in flight, or maybe not quite as loud.

Hadrotettix species might be confused with T. pistrinaria, but they are larger and heavier built, but with proportionately smaller heads; they have the inner face of the hind femur always predominantly black and crossed by only one pale subapical band (only sometimes this dark in T. pistrinaria); they have longer and thicker antennae that are usually blackish; and, the dark wing band (which curves around nearer to the outer margin) usually has little or no spur near the costal margin (a spur is usually prominent in T. pistrinaria). H. trifasciatus has the light coloring on the inner hind femur blue, not reddish. Hadrotettix do not crepitate in flight, but they are powerful fliers and large enough that a rustling sound from the flapping of the wings may be heard.

In early literature, there was much confusion between various species of Trimerotropis and Spharagemon with red hind tibiae, and older records for several species are often questionable; many are definitely based on misidentified specimens. This species was often involved.