Brueelia aguilarae Gustafsson & Bush, 2017

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 : 45-48

Brueelia aguilarae Gustafsson & Bush , new species

( Figs 49–55 )

Type host. Euplectes franciscanus (Isert, 1789) —northern red bishop. Type locality. Somaliland , Somalia.

Diagnosis. Brueelia aguilarae n. sp. belongs to a group of Old World Brueelia s. str. that are very strikingly pigmented in black and white. Only three species have previously been described in this Old World striped group: Brueelia plocea (Lakshminayarana, 1968) , Brueelia cantans Sychra [in Sychra et al.], 2010a, and Brueelia queleae Sychra & Barlev [in Sychra et al.], 2010b. These lice are similar to the Brueelia s. str. from icterids in the New World (the “ ornatissima ” group, sensu Cicchino & Castro, 1996 ), but unlike the New World group, the Old World group lacks dark pigmentation on the tergopleurites (except VIII–XI), and has a different pattern of abdominal chaetotaxy [cf. Br. aguilarae ( Figs 49–50 ) and Br. ornatissima , Table 3].

Brueelia aguilarae is most similar to Br. plocea , which has a similar head shape and few abdominal setae ( Figs 49–50 ). These two species differ in the following characters: darkly pigmented bands on anterior and posterior margins of sternal plates not connected laterally in Br. plocea , but connected in Br. aguilarae ( Figs 49–50 ); 2 ps on each side on male abdominal segment IV in Br. plocea but only 1 ps per side in Br. aguilarae ( Fig. 49 ); mesosomal lobes rounded in Br. plocea but angular in Br. aguilarae ( Fig. 53 ); male subgenital plate predominantly unpigmented in Br. plocea but predominantly darkly pigmented in Br. aguilarae ( Fig. 49 ). Lakshminarayana (1968) did not describe the female of Br. plocea , and comparisons of the females of the two species is currently not possible.

Description. Both sexes. Head shape, structure, and chaetotaxy as in Fig. 51 . Marginal carina slightly widened at clypeo-labral suture. Ventral anterior plate absent. Attachment areas of mandibular adductor muscles prominent in males. Short vsms2 located on lateral margin of clypeo-labral suture. Preantennal nodi long, slender. Coni short, blunt, not reaching distal margin of scape. Pre-ocular nodi somewhat elongated, post-ocular nodi small. All mts except mts 3 minute, easier to locate based on attendant canals in marginal temporal carina. Gular plate broadly lanceolate. Dark pigmentation on marginal carina (except anterior sixth and osculum), preantennal nodi, margins of antennal socket, marginal temporal carina (except at occiput), pedicel and flagellomeres I–III, and anterior half of gular plate. Thoracic and abdominal segments as in Figs 49–50 ; 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. Dark pigmentation on meso- and metasterna, pro-, mes-, and metepisterna, proepimera, anterior end of pronotum. Legs with nodi distinctly pigmented, and connected by dark, diffuse bands. Tergopleurites entirely translucent, except posterior margins of tergopleurites VIII and IX+X in both sexes, and much of tergopleurite XI in females. Sternal plates II–VI and subgenital plates of both sexes with dark pigmentation except centrally ( Figs 49–50 ).

Male. Abdominal chaetotaxy as in Table 3 and Fig. 49 . Subgenital plate irregularly trapezoidal ( Fig. 32 ), with four fenestrae: a transversal band in anterior end, a pair of roughly C-shaped areas laterally, and a central oblong area. Male genitalia ( Fig. 52 ) typical for genus. Extrusor muscles barely visible. Proximal mesosome broadly rounded. Gonopore ( Fig. 53 ) widely open distally. Parameral blades ( Fig. 54 ) slightly elongated distally, broad; pst1 sensillus, near distal tip; pst2 seta, on lateral margin near distal tip. Measurements ex Euplectes franciscanus (n = 2): TL = 1.26–1.32; HL = 0.30–0.31; HW = 0.23–0.24; PRW = 0.15–0.16; PTW = 0.23–0.24; AW = 0.30– 0.33.

Female. Abdominal chaetotaxy as in Table 3 and Fig. 50 . Subgenital plate pentagonal, flaring distally, but not reaching vulval margin ( Fig. 55 ), with 3 fenestrae: one central T-shaped area and two smaller areas laterally. Vulval margin bulging medianly ( Fig. 55 ), with 4–5 (rarely 3) short, slender vms on each side, and 6–7 short, thorn-like vss on each side; 2 vos on each side anterior to cross-piece, and 1 vos on each side median to vss. Measurements ex Euplectes franciscanus (n = 4): TL = 1.42–1.62; HL = 0.32–0.34; HW = 0.25–0.26; PRW = 0.16–0.17; PTW = 0.25–0.29; AW = 0.33–0.38.

Etymology. The species epithet is in honour of Ms Alexandra Aguilar, previously an undergraduate in the Clayton/Bush lab (University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah) who contributed immensely to this project at the initial stages, and gave much technical assistance.

Type material. Ex Euplectes franciscanus : Holotype ♂, “ Somaliland ”, Somalia, Feb. 1949, R. Meinertzhagen, 18634-5, marked with black dot on slide ( NHML) . Paratypes: 1♂, 4♀, same data as holotype ( NHML) .

Figures

FIGURES 49 – 50. Brueelia aguilarae n. sp. ex Euplectes franciscanus pusillus: 49, male habitus, dorsal and ventral views. 50, female habitus, dorsal and ventral views. Thin dotted lines delimit pigmented areas on head, pterothorax, sternites, and tergite IX + X.

FIGURES 51 – 55. Brueelia aguilarae n. sp. ex Euplectes franciscanus pusillus: 51, male head, dorsal and ventral views. 52, male genitalia, dorsal view. 53, male mesosome, ventral view. 54, male paramere, dorsal view. 55, female subgenital plate and vulval margin, ventral views.

FIGURES 31 – 34. Types of female subgenital plates II, with distal modifications but no true cross-pieces (schematic, all setae omitted): 31, subgenital plate with grove on distal margin. 32, subgenital plate with lateral submarginal bulges. 33, subgenital plate with narrow lateral submarginal extensions. 34, subgenital plate with broad lateral submarginal extensions. Abbreviations: LSB, lateral submarginal bulge; LSE, lateral submarginal extension.