[1] Typically found in sub-Saharan Africa[2] but with a small Arabian range,[3] G. fuscipes is a regional vector of African trypanosomiasis, commonly known as sleeping sickness, that causes significant rates of morbidity and mortality among humans and livestock.

Their bodies tend to have varied dark and light patches, effectively camouflaging them on surfaces such as bark, rock, or soil.

[9] When the male G. fuscipes is examined from the ventral side, a rounded structure named the hypopygium can be seen at the posterior end of the abdomen.

[9] In a few hours, the sperm move from the spermatophore into the spermatheca, where they remain active for the remainder of the female's life.

The larva sucks up the milky secretion and passes it directly to the midgut where it is slowly digested and assimilated.

Abortions could be due to the mother fly not obtaining enough food or also when carelessly handled or exposed to insecticide.

[9] The pupa is a dark brown, shorter than the larva that produced it, and rounded with polypneustic lobes at the posterior end.

[9] When ready to emerge, the young adult fly expands its ptilinum to burst open puparium's end.

[citation needed] During mating, the aedeagus is inserted into the vulva and reaches into the uterus as far as the spermatheca exit.

[9] G. fuscipes ranges across a vast region in Central and Eastern Africa, spanning from Cameroon and Gabon in the west to Kenya and Ethiopia in the east, and from Chad and Sudan in the north to Angola, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the United Republic of Tanzania in the south.

The genus is further divided into three subgenera, Morsitans, Fusca, and Palpalis, the latter of which being the subgenus to which G. fuscipes belongs.

Nagana typically refers to the disease specifically in cattle and horses; however, it is commonly used to describe any type of animal trypanosomiasis.

[12] G. fuscipes, alongside other tsetse flies, are prominent biological vectors of protozoan parasites belonging to the genus Trypanosoma known to cause the namesake diseases in various vertebrate species including humans, antelopes, bovine cattle, camels, horses, sheep, goats, and pigs.

The containment of sleeping sickness and nagana would be of great benefit to rural communities in sub-Saharan Africa, alleviating poverty and improving food security, thus efforts are undertaken in rein in local populations of G. fuscipes via methods such as pesticide campaigns and trapping.

[6][8][13] G. fuscipes flies rely on the obligate symbiont bacterial genus Wigglesworthia to supplement their diets with nutrients essential for fecundity.

[15] A secondary, facultative symbiont is the genus Sodalis, which is present in tsetse populations considered to play a role in the ability to transmit trypanosomes.

[17] Using both culture-dependent and independent methods, it was shown that Kenyan populations of the subspecies G. f. fuscipes harbor diverse range of bacteria.