Myrsidea suttoni Price and Dalgleish, 2006

Price, Roger D. & Dalgleish, Robert C., 2006, Myrsidea Waterston (Phthiraptera: Menoponidae) from tanagers (Passeriformes: Thraupidae), with descriptions of 18 new species, Zootaxa 1174, pp. 1-25 : 5-8

Myrsidea suttoni Price and Dalgleish , new species (Fig. 7)

Type host. Euphonia jamaica (L.), Jamaican Euphonia .

Female (8). Metanotum not enlarged, with 11–14 marginal setae. Abdomen with tergite I enlarged, and tergites I–V shaped as for tergites II–VI in Fig. 22. Tergal setae: I, 8–10; II, 15–21; III, 20–27; IV, 23–30; V, 25–28; VI, 22–27; VII, 20–26; VIII, 15–18. Postspiracular setae extremely long on IV, shortest on III and V–VII. Sternal setae: II, 26–33; III, 24– 26; IV–V, 30–35; VI, 26–31; VII, 14–17; VIII–IX, 21–25. Dimensions: TW, 0.44–0.45; HL, 0.31–0.32; PW, 0.28–0.30; MW, 0.42–0.46; AWIV, 0.53–0.63; ANW, 0.18–0.20; TL, 1.43–1.58.

Male (8). Metanotum with 10–11 marginal setae. Tergal setae: I, 8–13; II, 18–22; III– V, 24–29; VI, 23–26; VII, 20–25; VIII, 14–16. Sternal setae: II, 26–31; III, 16–23; IV, 25– 29; V, 24–31; VI, 21–23; VII, 11–17; VIII, 6–8. Genital sac sclerite 0.085–0.100 long, as in Figs. 7 or 11. Dimensions: TW, 0.38–0.41; HL, 0.27–0.29; PW, 0.26–0.30; MW, 0.33– 0.35; AWIV, 0.40–0.44; TL, 1.17–1.23.

Type material. Holotype female, ex E. jamaica , JAMAICA: Marshall’s Pen, Mandeville , Manchester, Feb 1982, R. C. Dalgleish . Paratypes, all ex E. jamaica : 4 females, 6 males, same data as holotype ; 2 males, same except 24–30 Dec 1982; 8 females, 2 males, same except Feb 1981, R. C. Dalgleish 804; 4 females, Rocklands near Anchovy, Feb 1982, R. C. Dalgleish ; 2 females, 2 males, Greenhills , Blue Mountains, Feb 1982, R. C. Dalgleish ; 5 females, 5 males, Jim Crow Mountains , 19 Feb 1982, R. L. Sutton .

Remarks. The female, with the enlargement of tergite I as for tergite II in Fig. 22, is unique among the species having the abdominal tergal rows complete across the segments and this enables separation of females of this species from all others. The quantitative chaetotaxy of the male metanotum and abdominal segments, in conjunction with the shape of the genital sac sclerite, will separate males of this species from those with the complete tergal setal rows.

Etymology. This species is named in memory of Robert Sutton of Marshall’s Pen, Mandeville, Jamaica, who assisted in the collection of this and many additional species. Robert was a Jamaican of English descent and one of the country’s preeminent ornithologists. His death in 2002, at the hands of burglars, was a great loss to ornithology, his many friends, and colleagues.

Myrsidea bonariensis Malcomson (Figs. 8–9)

Myrsidea bonariensis Malcomson 1929: 728 . Type host: “ Molothrus bonariensis (Cabanis) ”— error.

Female (10). Metanotum not enlarged, with 12–16 marginal setae. Abdomen (Fig. 8) with tergite I largest, with gently curved posterior margin, II–IV with slight medioposterior convexity. Tergal setae: I, 8–15; II, 24–34; III–V, 32–47; VI, 30–42; VII, 27–37; VIII, 18– 23. Postspiracular setae very long on IV and VII, shorter on III and V–VI. Sternal setae: II, 34–41; III, 26–32; IV–V, 34–44; VI, 29–41; VII, 18–25; VIII–IX, 20–23. Dimensions: TW, 0.43–0.45; HL and PW, 0.28–0.31; MW, 0.40–0.45; AWIV, 0.55–0.59; ANW, 0.20– 0.21; TL, 1.38–1.51.

Male (10). Metanotum with 12–16 marginal setae. Tergal setae: I, 20–26; II, 28–33; III– VI, 30–39; VII, 26–32; VIII, 20–25. Sternal setae: II, 28–34; III, 22–32; IV–V, 31–39; VI, 30–35; VII, 18–24; VIII, 7–13. Genital sac sclerite 0.080–0.100 long, as in Figs. 3 or 11. Dimensions: TW, 0.39–0.41; HL, 0.27–0.29; PW, 0.26–0.28; MW, 0.34–0.36; AWIV, 0.40–0.44; TL, 1.13–1.21.

Material. Ex Tangara gyrola (L.), Bay­headed Tanager, 6 females, 8 males, TRIN­ IDAD (3 collections); 7 females, 10 males, COSTA RICA (2 collections).

Remarks. This species was described by Malcomson (1929) from a female/male type pair presumed to have come from “ Molothrus bonariensis (Cabanis) , the Argentina cowbird. The skin bears no data.” This bird is now recognized as M. bonariensis (J. F. Gmelin) . Clay (1968) studied and illustrated these type specimens and concluded the erroneous nature of the type host. Unfortunately, many setae are missing, but, from what Clay shows, setal number and distributions, dimensions, and female tergal shape all agree in excellent fashion with what we have described here from T. gyrola . Myrsidea bonariensis is distinguished from others of this group by the shape of the female tergites, the setal counts, and the shorter postspiracular setae on tergite IV.

Myrsidea tangarae Price and Dalgleish , new species (Fig. 10)

Type host. Tangara mexicana (L.), Turquoise Tanager.

Female (5). Metanotum not enlarged, with 11–14 marginal setae. Abdomen with tergites and chaetotaxy as in Fig. 10, tergite I largest with gently curved posterior margin, II– IV with slight medioposterior convexity. Tergal setae: I, 9–10; II, 23–32; III–V, 29–35; VI, 27–33; VII, 28–32; VIII, 19–22. Postspiracular setae extremely long on IV, very long to extremely long on VII, considerably shorter on III and V–VI. Sternal setae: II, 29–36; III, 23–28; IV, 31–41; V, 36–44; VI, 30–38; VII, 17–24; VIII–IX, 20–23. Dimensions: TW, 0.45–0.46; HL, 0.30–0.31; PW, 0.30–0.31; MW, 0.43–0.46; AWIV, 0.55–0.61; ANW, 0.20–0.22; TL, 1.46–1.53.

Male (5). Metanotum with 11–14 marginal setae. Tergal setae: I, 20–22; II, 28–33; III, 33–35; IV, 30–36; V, 33–34; VI, 30–33; VII, 27–30; VIII, 22–25. Sternal setae: II, 28–33; III, 24–25; IV, 29–31; V, 31–34; VI, 26–29; VII, 17–21; VIII, 6–13. Genital sac sclerite 0.085–0.095 long, as in Fig. 23. Dimensions: TW, 0.41–0.42; HL, 0.27–0.29; PW, 0.27– 0.28; MW, 0.36–0.37; AWIV, 0.43–0.44; TL, 1.20–1.21.

Type material. Holotype female, ex T. mexicana , TRINIDAD: Simla near Arima, 22 Mar 1980, R. C. Dalgleish 683 . Paratypes: 4 females, 5 males, same data as holotype .

Remarks. This species is very close anatomically to M. bonariensis . The gula shows 7/ 9 specimens with 4 + 4 setae and 2/9 with 4 + 5 while M. bonariensis has 12/20 with 5 + 5 such setae, 7/20 with 4 + 5, and only 1/20 with 4 + 4. In addition, there are differences in the length of the postspiracular setae on tergites IV and VII and in some tergal setal counts. The male genital sac sclerite of M. tangarae is marginally different from that of M. bonariensis (Fig. 23 vs Fig. 3 ).

Figures

FIGURES 1–6. 1–4, Myrsidea laciniaesternata. 1, Entire dorsoventral male. 2, Male genitalia. 3, Male genital sac sclerite. 4, Female metanotum and dorsoventral abdomen. 5–6, M. cyanocephalae. 5, Female metanotum and dorsal abdomen. 6, Male metanotum and dorsal abdomen.