Myrsidea yoshizawai Price and Johnson

Price, Roger D. & Johnson, Kevin P., 2006, Four new species of Myrsidea Waterston chewing lice (Phthiraptera: Menoponidae) from the Malagasy warblers (Passeriformes), Zootaxa 1297, pp. 47-55 : 49-50

Myrsidea yoshizawai Price and Johnson , new species ( Figs. 1–4 )

Type host. Xanthomixis zosterops andapae (Salomonsen) , the Short­billed tetraka.

Male. As in Fig. 1 . Gula with 3 setae on each side. Metanotum with 6–8 setae on posterior margin. Tergal setae: I, 6; II, 8–9; III, 10–14; IV, 13–14; V, 11–13; VI, 9–12; VII, 8–10; VIII, 8. Conspicuous median gap in each tergal setal row. Postspiracular setae shortest (0.16–0.22) on I, III, and V, longer (0.23–0.27) on VI–VII, and extremely long (at least 0.40) on II, IV, and VIII. Sternal setae: II, each aster of 5 setae, remainder with 16–18; III, 10–11; IV, 18–20; V, 21–23; VI, 16–19; VII, 9–11; VIII, 4. Genitalia ( Fig. 3 ) with elongate U­shaped sac sclerite as in Fig. 2 . Dimensions: TW, 0.38–0.39; HL, 0.26–0.28; PW, 0.24; MW, 0.33–0.34; AWIV, 0.42–0.43; GL, 0.34–0.36; TL, 1.13–1.15.

Female. Metanotum and abdomen as in Fig. 4 . Metanotum with 8 setae on posterior margin. Tergites unmodified, of similar size. Tergal setae: I, 6; II, 11; III–V, 15–16; VI, 11; VII, 9; VIII, 8. With conspicuous median gap in each tergal setal row. Postspiracular setae as for male. Sternal setae: II, each aster of 5 setae, remainder with 19; III, 23; IV, 38; V, 47; VI, 44; VII, 15; VIII–IX with 12 marginal, 12 anterior setae. Each pleurite II–V with about 8 short marginal setae. Anus with 37 ventral fringe setae, 30 dorsal. Dimensions: TW, 0.44; HL, 0.30; PW, 0.28; MW, 0.42; AWIV, 0.56; ANW, 0.18; TL, 1.48.

Type material. Holotype female, ex X. zosterops andapae , MADAGASCAR: Antsiranana, Parc National de Marojejy, 19 Oct 2001, S. Goodman, SMG 12196. Paratypes: 2 males, same data as holotype.

Other material. 1 male, probably ex X. zosterops andapae , MADAGASCAR, but contaminant mounted on slide with louse ex Philepitta castanea (Statius Müller) .

Remarks. This new species is recognized by the quantitative abdominal chaetotaxy, the conspicuous median gap in all tergal setae rows, and the male with the unique Ushaped genital sac sclerite.

The single "contaminant" male is clearly a member of this new species and is markedly different from males of M. minuscula (Piaget) , the usual louse on Philepitta castanea . This slide carried the same locality data as for X. zosterops andapae , including S. Goodman the collector and the date of 16 Oct 2001.

Etymology. This species is named for Kazunori Yoshizawa, University of Hokkaido, Sapporo, in recognition of his contributions to understanding the phylogenetic relationships of parasitic lice and bark lice.

Figures

FIGURES 1 – 4. Myrsidea yoshizawai. 1, Entire dorsoventral male. 2, Male genital sac sclerite. 3, Male genitalia. 4, Female metanotum and dorsoventral abdomen.