Brueelia coryliventer Gustafsson & Bush

Gustafsson, Daniel R. & Bush, Sarah E., 2015, Four new species of Brueelia Kéler, 1936 (Phthiraptera: Ischnocera: Philopteridae) from African songbirds (Passeriformes: Sturnidae and Laniidae), Zootaxa 4013 (4), pp. 503-518 : 513-516

Brueelia coryliventer Gustafsson & Bush , new species

( Figs 7–8 , 12 , 16 , 20 ; Table 1)

Type host: Creatophora cinerea (Meuschen, 1787) (Sturnidae) —wattled starling.

Type locality. Isiolo, Kenya.

Diagnosis. Brueelia coryliventer is most similar to B. tkachi , with which it shares the following characters: both sexes with moderate pigmentation on sternal and subgenital plates; lateral margins of preantennal head clearly convex; 1 ps present on male abdominal segment III on each side; 2 ps present on male abdominal segment IV on each side; 2 ps on female abdominal segment IV on each side; female subgenital plate slenderly pentagonal. These two species differ in the following characters: frons flat and angular in B. coryliventer ( Fig. 20 ) but gently rounded in B. tkachi ( Fig. 19 ); psps present in B. coryliventer ( Fig. 7 ) but absent on male tergite V in B. tkachi ( Fig. 5 ); ps present on female abdominal segment III in B. coryliventer ( Fig. 8 ) but absent in B. tkachi ( Fig. 6 ); basal plate with narrow, rounded anterior end in B. coryliventer ( Fig. 12 ) but with broad, flattened anterior end in B. tkachi ( Fig. 11 ); male mesosome with mf extending farther posterior and being broadly triangular in B. tkachi , but shorter and with small, rounded mf in B. coryliventer ; male parameres constricted in B. coryliventer but not constricted in B. tkachi .

Description. Head cone-shaped ( Fig. 20 ). Frons flat. Lateral margins of preantennal head converging anteriorly, slightly convex, abruptly rounded anteriorly. Marginal carina broad. Head chaetotaxy as in Fig. 20 . Gular plate long, broad, triangular. Overall body pigmentation light, with moderately pigmentation on head carinae and nodi, mandibles, anterior margin of scape, pedicel, flagellomeres I–III, proepimera, metepisterna, and subgenital plates and sternal plates IV–VI of both sexes. Pigmentation of sternal plates lighter in female. Measurements as in Table 1.

Male. Thorax and abdomen as in Fig. 7 ; segment III with 1 ps; segment IV with 2 ps; psps present on tergite V; segment XI with 4 setae. Male genitalia as in Fig. 12 . Basal plate roughly rectangular, anterior margin rounded. Mesosome with strongly sinuous distal thickening; both lf and mf smaller in relation to parameres, and mf reaching slightly more distally than lf. Parameres constricted midway along lateral margin.

Female. Thorax and abdomen as in Fig. 8 . ps present on segment III. Segments IV–VII each with 2 ps. Crosspiece of subgenital plate with narrow connection to main plate as in Fig. 16 . Vulval margin gently rounded ( Fig. 16 ), with 4–5 slender vms on each side, and 4 thorn-like vss on each side; 4 slender vos on each side; 1 distal vos median to vss on each side.

Comments. Creatophora Lesson, 1847 , is a monotypic genus. Unlike Lamprotornis Temminck, 1820 and Spreo , Creatophora is not part of the “African” starling radiation, but belongs to the “Eurasian” radiation ( Lovette & Rubenstein 2007). We examined louse material from the following starlings and mynahs belonging to the Eurasian radiation: Acridotheres fuscus fuscus (Wagler, 1827) , A. fuscus torquatus Davison, 1892 , A. ginginianus (Latham, 1790) , A. grandis Moore, 1858 , A. tristis tristis (Linnaeus, 1766) , Gracupica contra contra (Paykull, 1807) , G. nigricollis (Linnaeus, 1758) , Pastor roseus (Linnaeus, 1758) , Sturnia malabarica nemoricola Jerdon 1862 , S. sinensis (Gmelin, 1788) , Sturnus vulgaris Linnaeus, 1758 , and Temenuchus pagodarum (Gmelin, 1789) . None of these samples belong to the clara species group of the genus Brueelia .

Material examined. Types: Holotype ♂, Isiolo, Kenya, Jan. 1956, R. Meinertzhagen, 20469 ( NHML). Paratypes: 1♀, same data as holotype ( NHML); 1♂, 8♀, Awassa, Ethiopia, 17 Nov. 1960, S. Brelih, IM-3137–3145 ( PMSL).

Etymology. The species epithet derives from Latin “ corylus ” = “hazel”, and “ ventrum ” = “ventral”, referring to the hazel-brown sternites of the holotype male.

Figures

FIGURES 7 – 8. Brueelia coryliventer n. sp. ex Creatophora cinerea. 7, male habitus, dorsal and ventral views. 8, female habitus, dorsal and ventral views.

FIGURES 9 – 12. Male genitalia, dorsal views. 9, Brueelia clara n. sp. 10, Brueelia rigbyi n. sp. 11, Brueelia tkachi n. sp. 12, Brueelia coryliventer n. sp. Abbreviations: lf = lateral fold; mf = median fold.

FIGURES 13 – 16. Female subgenital plates and vulval margins, ventral views. 13, Brueelia clara n. sp. 14, Brueelia rigbyi n. sp. 15, Brueelia tkachi n. sp. 16, Brueelia coryliventer n. sp. Abbreviations: vms = vulval marginal setae; vos = vulval oblique setae; vss = vulval submarginal setae.

FIGURES 19 – 20. Male heads, dorsal and ventral views. 19, Brueelia tkachi n. sp. 20, Brueelia coryliventer n. sp.

FIGURES 5 – 6. Brueelia tkachi n. sp. ex Spreo albicapillus albicapillus. 5, male habitus, dorsal and ventral views. 6, female habitus, dorsal and ventral views.