[6]: 17 Adult club-horned grasshoppers are light brown, grey, or green, with black or silver markings.

A dark streak runs from the bottom of the compound eye to the base of the mandible, accompanied by a cream or light tan stream further forward.

[5] The lateral carinae constrict near the middle of the prozona (the forewing-covering section of the pronotum), forming an hourglass-shaped marking, which is common among slant-faced grasshoppers.

All instars have strongly slanted faces, oblong lateral fovolae on their heads, a narrow light stripe above a thick dark stripe from behind the middle of the compound eye to the abdomen, a constriction in the lateral carinae near the middle of the pronotum (forming an hourglass shape), and hind femurs whose medial areas are entirely grey and whose lower marginal areas are pale grey.

The eggs begin rapid embryonic development, until apparently ready to hatch, then enter diapause for the winter.

[5] The eggs hatch in very early spring, within a three-to-four–week period, significantly earlier than most other grasshopper species in the same regions,[5][7] and quickly progress through all instars, becoming adults in about 30–42 days.

[5] The club-horned grasshopper is not generally an economically important pest, but it may occasionally become dense in favorable conditions.