Brueelia brachythorax ( Giebel, 1874 )

Bush, Sarah E., 2017, Morphological revision of the hyperdiverse Brueelia - complex (Insecta: Phthiraptera: Ischnocera: Philopteridae) with new taxa, checklists and generic key, Zootaxa 4313 (1), pp. 1-443 : 42-45

Brueelia brachythorax ( Giebel, 1874)

( Figs 42–48 )

Nirmus brachythorax Giebel, 1874: 134 .

Degeeriella brachythorax ( Giebel, 1874) ; Harrison, 1916: 109. Brueelia rossittensis Kéler, 1936a: 257 .

Brueelia brachythorax ( Giebel, 1874) ; Hopkins & Clay, 1952: 54.

Type host. Bombycilla garrulus garrulus ( Linnaeus, 1758) — Bohemian waxwing.

Type locality. None given, likely Germany, but type series is lost. Type locality for Brueelia rossittensis is Rossitten [now: Rybachy ], Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia.

Other host. Bombycilla garrulus pallidiceps Reichenow, 1908 — Bohemian waxwing new host record.

Description. Both sexes. Head shape, structure, and chaetotaxy as in Fig. 44 . Marginal carina barely widened at osculum. Ventral anterior plate very small, not visible in old material. Short vsms2 situated in clypeo-labral suture, not on lateral margins of clypeo-labral suture. Preantennal nodi moderate. Coni short, blunt, barely or not reaching distal margin of scape. Pre- and postocular nodi prominent, connected dorsally. Gular plate drop-shaped. Thoracic and abdominal segments as in genus description and Figs 42–43 ; 5 mms on each side, alternating between short and long setae. Proepimera broad, median ends hooked around coxae II. Median ends of metepisterna broad, blunt. tps absent on all segments in both sexes.

Male. Abdominal chaetotaxy as in Table 3 and Fig. 42 . Subgenital plate pentagonal. Male genitalia typical for genus ( Fig. 45 ). Proximal mesosome broadly rounded. Gonopore ( Fig. 46 ) large, narrowly open distally. Parameres ( Fig. 47 ) not much elongated distally; pst1 sensillus, submarginal; pst2 microseta, on distal tip. Measurements: ex Bombycilla garrulus garrulus (n = 6): TL = 1.48–1.59; HL = 0.36–0.37; HW = 0.29–0.32; PRW = 0.19–0.20; PTW = 0.27–0.29; AW = 0.40–0.45. Ex B. g. pallidiceps (n = 8): TL = 1.52–1.69; HL = 0.35–0.37; HW = 0.28–0.31; PRW = 0.18–0.20; PTW = 0.25–0.32; AW = 0.38–0.45.

Female. Abdominal chaetotaxy as in Table 3 and Fig. 43 . Subgenital plate pentagonal, flaring distally along vulval margin ( Fig. 48 ). Vulval margin ( Fig. 48 ) gently rounded, with 3 (rarely 4) short, slender vms on each side, and 2–3 (rarely 4) short, thorn-like vss on each side; 2–3 slender vos on each side anterior to cross-piece and 1 vos median to vss on each side. Measurements Ex Bombycilla garrulus garrulus (n = 15): TL = 1.61–1.89 (1.74); HL = 0.36–0.39 (0.38); HW = 0.29–0.33 (0.32); PRW = 0.19–0.21 (0.20); PTW = 0.28–0.31 (0.30); AW = 0.38–0.50 (0.45). Ex B. g. pallidiceps (n = 15): TL = 1.71–2.08 (1.91); HL = 0.37–0.41 (0.40); HW = 0.31–0.35 (0.33); PRW = 0.20–0.22 (0.21); PTW = 0.29–0.34 (0.32); AW = 0.42–0.51 (0.46).

Type material. Paratype of Br. rossittensis : 1♀, Germany, R. Meinertzhagen, 10918 ( NHML).

Additional material examined (non-types)

Ex Bombycilla garrulus garrulus [Russian material may be from subspecies Bombycilla garrulus centralasiae Poliakov, 1915 ): 1♀, Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom, Nov. 1912, R. Meinertzhagen, 4402 ( NHML); 4♀, Scotland, United Kingdom, Oct, 1901, R. Meinertzhagen, 3804 ( NHML); 9♂, 10♀, Russia, R. Meinertzhagen, 10970 ( NHML); 1♀, Piaget Collection, 1230 ( NHML); 1♀, Wroclaw, United Kingdom, 2. Jan. 1950, 171a.12 ( MFNB); slide also contains unidentified Columbicola . 5♂, 5♀, Stozice, Ljubljana, Slovenia, 11 Sep. 1975, D. Sere, 12564–12573 ( PMSL); 3♀, Dubrovnik, Croatia, 22 Feb. 1962, A. Lesinger, 5648–5650 ( PMSL); 1♀, Dubrovnik, Croatia, 20 Jan. 1966, A. Lesinger, 11515 ( PMSL); 2♀, Cluj, Romania, 4 Mar. 1960, I. Bechet, 9222–9223 ( PMSL); 1♂, 1♀, Medvode, Slovenia, 15 Dec. 1963, S. Brelih, 8443–8444 ( PMSL); 1♂, 2♀, Ljubljana, Slovenia, 13 Mar. 1976, A. Smuc, 13150–13152 ( PMSL); 1♂, Stari Trg, Loz, Slovenia, 30 Jan. 1976, A. Smuc, 12920 ( PMSL); 1♀, Stozice, Ljubljana, Slovenia, 11 Sep. 1975, D. Sere, 12574 ( PMSL).

Ex Bombycilla garrulus pallidiceps : 1♀, Noatak River, Alaska, USA, 5. Jul. 1961, JH-536, 15869 on reverse ( OSUS) ; 10♂, 15♀, 2nd Deseret Livestock Ranch , North Skull Valley, Tooele County, Utah, USA, 11 Mar. 1964, E & E Branch, EE-4117, 2 PIPeR #08 and PIPeR #109 (PIPeR) ; 4♀, 2nd Deseret Livestock Ranch , North Skull Valley, Tooele County, Utah, USA, 17 Mar. 1964, E & E Branch, EE-4118 (PIPeR) ; 1♀, Callao , Juab County, Utah, USA, 19 Dec. 1963, E & E Branch, EE-0387 (PIPeR) ; 1♀, Callao , Juab County, Utah, USA, 19 Dec. 1963, E & E Branch, EE-0392 (PIPeR).

Remarks. No significant morphological differences have been found between material from the type host subspecies and the North American subspecies B. g. pallidiceps . However, North American specimens are generally longer, and females are slightly larger in all dimensions. The population on B. g. pallidiceps may be a separate species, or natural variation among populations. We have provided the measurements of material from both host subspecies.

Brueelia brachythorax was not included in the phylogeny of Bush et al. (2016), but Br. cedrorum was. The two species are very similar and may be conspecific. Brueelia cedrorum was placed near a few other Brueelia s. str. from larger-bodied North American hosts, and this clade was placed as sister to a large clade of mainly Holarctic Brueelia s. str. from emberizid, fringillid, and picid hosts. Brueelia s. str. occurs mainly on host families that are predominantly Holarctic, or that have representatives that are widely distributed in the Holarctic region, but is largely absent on host families that are exclusively or largely tropical or subtropical.

Figures

FIGURES 42 – 43. Brueelia brachythorax (Giebel, 1874) ex Bombycilla garrulus garrulus: 42, male habitus, dorsal and ventral views. 43, female habitus, dorsal and ventral views.

FIGURES 44 – 48. Brueelia brachythorax (Giebel, 1874) ex Bombycilla garrulus garrulous: 44, male head, dorsal and ventral views. 45, male genitalia, dorsal view. 46, male mesosome, ventral view. 47, male paramere, dorsal view. 48, female subgenital plate and vulval margin, ventral views.