Platyverticula ritchiei Jago, 1983b

Popov †, George B., Fishpool, Lincoln D. C. & Rowell, C. Hugh F., 2019, A review of the Acridinae s. str. (Orthoptera: Acridoidea: Acrididae) of eastern Africa with taxonomic changes and description of new taxa, Journal of Orthoptera Research 28 (2), pp. 37-105 : 44

Platyverticula ritchiei Jago, 1983b Fig. 59, 59A

Material.

-Holotype male and allotype female: SOMALIA, Kismayu, littoral dune slack in and around grounds of Wamu Hotel, 28.vii.1981, J.M. Ritchie (NHMUK).

Description.

-As for the genus. Figured in Jago (1983b): 118, figs 52-56. Distinctive species with unique pronotal disc and genital structures in both sexes. Coloration in shades of dark and lighter browns, without any traces of brighter pigmentation.

Distribution.

-Known only from the type locality in SOMALIA. According to the collector (cited in Jago l983b), the species occurs under Cordia sp. bushes, which are approximately 1 m high x 2 m in diameter, growing within 500 m of the high tide line; this zone integrates with trees and bushes some 18 m high, forming a woodland. The bushes on the dunes are separated by bare sand.