This information was extracted from Ritchie (1980): "Fastigium of vertex convex. Pronotum with median carina arcuate, not intersected by posterior sulcus; hind margin acutangular. Tegmen surpassing folded hind knees by about one eighth of hind femur length. Genitalia with aedeagus moderately strongly protruding; epiphallus with lateral plate widening posteriorly, outer lophi small, rounded, straight or slightly divergent. Colouration. Pronotal x-marking with fine lines on dark background. Tegmen with two pale cross bands, basal band sometimes reduced or absent. Hind wing basally pale yellow; fascia complete in male, reaching and following hind margin of wing, interrupted between Cu2 and 1A, and sometimes, especially in Ethiopia, obsolete from costal margin to Cu2; fascia reduced in female, occasionally almost obsolete, especially in Ethiopia, ceasing to reach hind margin, thin, sometimes not reaching beyond Cu2 anteriorly. Hind femur externally with faint traces of transverse banding in medial area; upper carinula with row of black dots. Internal surface with medial area brown in basal half, upper and lower carinulae with row of dots; ventral surface straw-coloured. Hind tibiae pink or red in male, light brown in female".

This information was extracted from Ritchie (1980): "Gastrimargus verticalis is related to the montane G. rothschildi. However it also has affinities with G. determinatus and G. miombo with both of which it has sometimes been confused. All three species have the hind femur ventrally straw-coloured (except in G. v. mpwapwae), a strongly protruding aedeagus with large ventral lobe, and a pronotal x-marking with the anterior and posterior arms of similar thickness".

Unknown

Gastrimargus verticalis is a species complex with two subspecies described to date. The nominate species is found on the north-eastern side of Africa downwards to KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa and the subspecies G. verticalis mpwapwae Ritchie (1982) is currently known to occur in Tanzania (Cigliano et al. 2020).

Gastrimargus verticalis verticalis is found in East Africa mainly east of the rift valley and crosses the Brachystegia belt by means of grassland 'stepping,-stones' north of L. Malawi and on the Mocambique / Zimbabwe border downwards into South Africa (Ritchie 1980).

In South Africa, the nominate subspecies is found in the Western Cape, Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal Provinces (Naran & Bazelet 2013).

Grasshoppers usually move by walking or jumping, but most adults fly, often exposing brightly coloured hindwings. Their adaptations for movement include the forewings (called tegmina) which are thickened and with numerous veins; the hind wings also contain many veins but are membranous, fanlike, and folded when in repose. Most Orthoptera display hind legs enlarged and adapted for jumping (Gibb & Oseto, 2006). Gastrimargus species are strong fliers (Picker et al. 2012).

Herbivore - Graminivore (grass-eating)

Orthopterans have well-developed mandibles and their mouthparts are adapted for chewing. They are mainly herbivorous, favouring a range of grasses and often consuming more even than antelope and cattle (up to 130 kg of grass yearly per hectare). Gastrimargus species feed on soft and tough grasses, of the subfamily Andropogonae (Picker et al. 2012).

Females in orthopterans have the egg-laying tube which is short and usually concealed, as are the male genitalia, and the abdomen in males always turns up at the end. Eggs are laid in groups in soil and mixed with a frothy substance that hardens to form the egg pod. Gastrimargus species eggs are over-wintered and they produce one generation in a year.

Unknown

Unknown