Pelecolipeurus longus (Piaget, 1880) Gustafsson & Tian & Ren & Li & Sun & Zou, 2024

Gustafsson, Daniel R., Tian, Chunpo, Ren, Mengjiao, Li, Zhu, Sun, Xiuling & Zou, Fasheng, 2024, New genus and species of lice in the Oxylipeurus - complex (Phthiraptera, Ischnocera, Philopteridae), with an overview of the distribution of ischnoceran chewing lice on galliform hosts, Deutsche Entomologische Zeitschrift 71 (1), pp. 85-109 : 85

Pelecolipeurus longus (Piaget, 1880) comb. nov.

Figs 15 , 16 , 17-20 , 21-22

Lipeurus longus Piaget, 1880: 370.

Oxylipeurus longus (Piaget), 1880; Clay, 1938a: 171.

Reticulipeurus longus (Piaget, 1880); Kéler, 1958: 332.

Type host.

Tragopan satyra (Linnaeus, 1758) - satyr tragopan.

Type locality.

The Hague, Netherlands (captive bird; host is limited to the Himalayas).

Other hosts.

Tragopan temminckii (Gray, 1831) - Temminck’s tragopan [tentative]. Tragopan melanocephalus (Gray, 1829) - western tragopan [uncertain; Clay 1938a: 172].

Specimens examined.

Ex Tragopan temminckii : China • 2♂, 2♀; Shanghai, Shanghai Zoo ; 12 Sep. 1988; Shi Xinquan leg.; box E0026199, slides 73-76 (NNHM). 5♀; Beijing, Beijing Zoo; 10 Oct 1973; collector unknown; box E0026199, slides 78-82 (NNHM). 4♂, 6♀; Sichuan Province, Beichuan; 4 May 1984; collector unknown; box E0026199, slides 84-87 (NNHM). Ex Crossoptilon auritum [straggler?]: China • 1♀; no locality; 30 Oct 1990; collector unknown; box E0026199, slide 67 (NNHM). Ex Lophura nycthemera fokiensis [straggler?]: China • 1♂; Fujian Province; Dec 1990; collector unknown; box E0026199, slide 71 (NNHM). Ex Tragopan sp.: China • 1♀; no collection data; box E0026199, slide 83 (NNHM) .

Diagnosis.

Both specimens from T. temminckii and those illustrated from the type host by Clay (1938a) and von Kéler (1958) can be separated from P. fujianensis sp. nov. by the following characters: male fused abdominal segment IX-XI with more or less straight lateral margins in P. longus , but with concave lateral margins in P. fujianensis (Fig. 7 ); proximal mesosome of P. longus with flattened anterior margin, but with medianly pointed anterior end in P. fujianensis (Fig. 6 ); parameres more curved in P. longus than in P. fujianensis (Fig. 6 ). Specimens from T. temminckii can be further separated from P. fujianensis by the characters listed under this species above, but examination of specimens from the type host of P. longus is necessary to establish whether the population on this host can also be separated from P. fujianensis by the same characters and whether the populations on T. satyra and T. temminckii are conspecific.

Description

(of specimens from Tragopan temminckii ). Both sexes. Head shape, structure and reticulation pattern as in Fig. 17 ; frons somewhat flattened. Marginal carina of moderate width, widening posteriorly. Dorsal pre-antennal suture prominent, reaching to or nearly to marginal carina laterally. Head chaetotaxy as in Fig. 17 ; many dorsal sensilla very small and difficult to see. Antennae sexually dimorphic. Thoracic and abdominal segments and chaetotaxy as in Figs 15 , 16 .

Male. Antennae as in Fig. 17 ; scape, pedicel and flagellomere I swollen and modified in shape compared to female; scape with seemingly hyaline, broad process in proximal third; flagellomere I with intensely rugose surface and intensely rugose bulbous process near proximal base. Abdominal chaetotaxy as in Fig. 15 ; inner ventral ps absent on all tergopleurites; sts on sternite VI of about equal length. Subgenital plate, stylus and terminalia as in Fig. 21 ; stylus tapering more or less evenly towards distal end. Genitalia as in Figs 19 , 20 . Proximal mesosome flattened to slightly concave, with short, stout antero-lateral extensions bent slightly anteriorly. Ventral sclerite inverse V-shaped, with up to 3 sensilla on each side associated with its distal margin; 3 sensilla on each side lateral to ventral sclerite, forming distally divergent rows. Distal mesosome rounded rectangular, dominated by large, roughly rounded-trapezoidal gonopore. Parameres roughly parallel; pst1-2 as in Fig. 20 . Measurements as in Table 1 .

Female. Antennae as in Fig. 18 . Abdominal chaetotaxy as in Fig. 16 ; sternal plate VI with 2 sts on each side. Subgenital plate, vulval margin and terminalia as in Fig. 22 ; subgenital plate continuous medianly. Vulval margin with 17-22 medium-length, slender vms and 8-12 short, slender vss on each side; median vms shorter than lateral vms. Measurements as in Table 1 .

Remarks.

We have not seen any specimens of L. longus from the type host. The original illustrations ( Piaget 1880; figs 8, 8a, 8b) are insufficiently detailed to establish its identity beyond placing it in Pelecolipeurus . Clay (1938a: 171, figs 33b, 35a) and Kéler (1958: fig. 34) illustrated the male terminalia and male genitalia of this species, confirming our placement of L. longus in the new genus Pelecolipeurus . Kéler (1958: 327-333) provided some additional morphological details, but did not consider it possible to separate this species from Reticulipeurus , even subgenerically. Złotorzycka (1966) placed P. longus in Reticulipeurus ; this was followed tentatively by Gustafsson et al. (2020a), but they did not examine any specimens and noted that the species may need to be moved to a separate genus.

Piaget (1880) treated specimens from both hosts as conspecific. Specimens of Pelecolipeurus from Tragopan temminckii are similar to P. longus (Piaget, 1880) as illustrated by Clay (1938a) and Kéler (1958), but published illustrations and descriptions ( Piaget 1880; Clay 1938a; von Kéler 1958) are insufficient to establish the status of these populations adequately. As in illustrations of L. longus , the male specimens from T. temminckii have largely flat lateral margins of abdominal segment IX-XI, suggesting they are conspecific. However, Clay’s illustration of the male mesosome of L. longus ( Clay 1938a: fig. 35a) indicates that there may be differences in the shape of the mesosome between L. longus and specimens we have examined. In our previous experience with Clay’s illustrations in this publication (e.g. Gustafsson et al. (2020a)), details such as these are not always reliable when compared to specimens examined by Clay, presumably due to limitations of the microscopy and illustration techniques of the time. Clay (1938a: 172) stated that she had also examined specimens from T. temminckii and Tragopan melanocephalus and that it was "impossible to say whether [ P. longus ] normally occurs on these two hosts or whether Piaget’s specimens are stragglers".

A photo of the lectotype female of P. longus is available online at the NHML’s homepage (https://data.nhm.ac.uk/dataset). In this photo, the distal claspers of the abdomen are more attenuated than illustrated here and the sclerotisations following the vulval margin may be narrower, but this is not clear in the photo. Moreover, these characters may be affected by mounting or be subject to individual variation within the Oxylipeurus -complex and cannot be used alone as reliable indicators of species identity. Other characters, such as vulval chaetotaxy, cannot be seen in the photo. A re-examination of the lectotype and the six paralectotypes of P. longus will be necessary to establish the identity of specimens from T. temminckii (and other hosts) listed here, but, unfortunately, we were not able to either examine the specimen at the NHML, nor borrow this specimen.

We presently consider populations from both T. satyra and T. temminckii to be conspecific, but note that P. longus from the type host is in need of re-description and that such a re-description may warrant the recognition of the specimens described here as a separate species.

Figures

Figure 15. Pelecolipeurus cf. longus (Piaget, 1880) ex Tragopan temminckii (Gray, 1831). Male habitus, dorsal and ventral views.

Figure 16. Pelecolipeurus cf. longus (Piaget, 1880) ex Tragopan temminckii (Gray, 1831). female habitus, dorsal and ventral views.

Figures 17 - 20. Pelecolipeurus cf. longus (Piaget, 1880) ex Tragopan temminckii (Gray, 1831). 17. Male head, dorsal and ventral views; 18. Female antenna, ventral view; 19. Male genitalia, ventral view; 20. Distal male genitalia, ventral view.

Figures 21, 22. Pelecolipeurus cf. longus (Piaget, 1880) ex Tragopan temminckii (Gray, 1831). 21. Male subgenital plate and abdominal segments VIII-XI, ventral view; 22. Female subgenital plate and abdominal segments VIII-XI, ventral view.

Figures 7, 8. Pelecolipeurus fujianensis sp. nov. ex Tragopan caboti (Gould, 1857). 7. Male subgenital plate and abdominal segments VIII-XI, ventral view; 8. Female subgenital plate and abdominal segments VIII-XI, ventral view.

Figures 3 - 6. Pelecolipeurus fujianensis sp. nov. ex Tragopan caboti (Gould, 1857). 3. Male head, dorsal and ventral views; 4. Female antenna, ventral view; 5. Male genitalia, ventral view; 6. Distal male genitalia, ventral view.