This grasshopper is present in Austria, Belgium, Greece, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, Czech Republic, and in the Near East.

They can be encountered from early June through October in warm and dry stony or rocky habitats.

They are almost exclusively phytophagous, mainly feeding in grass of mountain pastures and various herbaceous plants (Asperula cynanchica, Galeopsis angustifolia, Hippocrepis comosa, Teucrium chamaedrys, etc.).

The hind wings are red (while they are turquoise in Oedipoda caerulescens) with a black band on margin and are fit for flight.

Femora of the hind legs are red on the bottom, while tibiae are yellowish in the females and black in males.