This species has three subspecies: binaria, cinctum, and mexicanum (found from Mexico to Argentina). Subspecies binaria resembles typical cinctum but has a much darker, more intensified coloration, appearing as almost black with a broad white band on the wings; it can be described [and is by some] as looking as if the hopper was dipped in paint. The wings have a bold black blotch on either side of the junction of the claval nervures, with two similarly-colored blotches at the base of the costa on each wing; the pale, whitish transverse wing band is between these dark markings and the blackish posterior halves of the wings. The rest of the wings are largely blackish except for a pair of pale spots at the apex of the clavi, and a hyaline area across the outer apical cells. The vertex and pronotum are pale with brown or fuscous markings. The vertex is slightly more angled than typical cinctum, and the female pregenital sternite is slightly shorter. This ssp. is 5.5 mm long. (Ball, 1931) Some more images of subspecies binaria: 1, 2, 3.

For diagrams of this species, see: 3i. For additional images showing variation, see: BG. Here is a neat image of a pair mating, showing difference in pattern and color.