The lively green-brown to black-brown and very variable coloring can be dominated by dark green tones in the females.

They are morphologically similar to those of the slightly smaller Trachyaretaon gatla, in which the supraanal plate (epiproct), i.e. the eleventh tergite, as well as the seventh sternite of the abdomen is clearly notched, while in the females of Trachyaretaon echinatus it ends rounded or truncated.

[8][9] Carl Stål described the species in 1877 under the basionym Obrimus echinatus using a 77 millimetres (3.0 in) long female,[5] which is deposited as a holotype in the Naturhistoriska riksmuseet in Stockholm.

[10] The species name "echinatus" refers to the prickly body surface (ancient Greek echínos (ἐχῖνος) for Sea urchins (Echinoidea)).

[6] In 2004, Oliver Zompro elevated this subgenus to the rank of a genus, the type species of which is Trachyaretaon echinatus.

[8] Local naturalists found in the province of Nueva Vizcaya near the Imugan Falls in June 2015 females from a very similar population at two independent locations.

[4] Two sexual breeding lines collected on Luzon in 2009 and 2010 were temporarily referred to as Trachyaretaon echinatus.

A wide variety of forage plants such as bramble, hazel, firethorn and ivy are eaten.