Picicola donwebbi Meyer, Price

Meyer, Mathys J., Price, Roger D. & Johnson, Kevin P., 2008, A new species of Picicola Clay and Meinertzhagen, 1938 (Phthiraptera: Ischnocera) parasitic on the Rufous-sided Broadbill (Passeriformes: Eurylaimidae) in Ghana, Zootaxa 1762, pp. 63-68 : 64-66

Picicola donwebbi Meyer, Price , and Johnson, new species ( Figs. 1–3 )

Type host. Smithornis rufolateralis Gray, 1864 , Rufous-sided Broadbill.

Description. Both sexes similar except for terminalia and dimensions. General aspects of body and chaetotaxy as in Fig. 1 for male and Fig. 3 for female. Head with marginal carina well developed, with outer edge and inner border medially pointed; lateral notch present and interrupting, but not breaking, marginal carina at point of curvature around frons. Preantennal suture distinct. Frontal plate located anterior to preantennal suture, distinct and sculptured, but without thickened posterior edge. Tip of conus usually not reaching distal end of first antennal segment (scape). Abdominal tergites II–VII divided with 2 central setae, tergite VIII entire and with 4 central setae. Abdominal segments with prominent pleural thickening and reentrant heads. Margin of male tergite IX with long seta posteriolateral to shorter one on either side. Female subgenital plate vulval margin with 16 short setae and row of 6 very short setae lateromedial to this marginal row, with 4 additional short setae displaced latero-anteriorly. Male genitalia ( Fig. 2 ) with one sensillum on each endomeral arm. Dimensions (in millimeters): Male (n=5): TW, 0.32–0.33 (0.33); HL, 0.43–0.48 (0.45); CI, 1.33–1.49 (1.38); PW, 0.21–0.22 (0.21); MW, 0.27–0.28 (0.27); AWV, 0.38–0.46 (0.40); GL, 0.24–0.28 (0.27); PL, 0.03–0.04 (0.04); TL, 1.43–1.55 (1.48). Female (n=5): TW, 0.34–0.37 (0.35); HL, 0.45–0.48 (0.47); CI, 1.31– 1.33 (1.32); PW, 0.22–0.25 (0.23); MW, 0.29–0.30 (0.30); AWV, 0.40–0.44 (0.42); TL, 1.61–1.78 (1.72).

Type material. Holotype male is labeled “ex Smithornis rufolateralis , GHANA: Goaso, K. P. Johnson, 28 Mar 2003, BDM 851” and is deposited in INHS. Paratypes: 4 males, 5 females with same data as holotype and deposited as follows: 1 male, 1 female ( BMNH); 1 male, 1 female ( FMNH); 1 male, 2 females and a female DNA voucher specimen ( INHS); 1 male, 1 female ( OSEC).

Diagnosis. Picicola donwebbi differs from Picicola collected from the Picidae by the anterior shape of the head being medially pointed rather than smoothly rounded (as in P. candidus and P. snodgrassi species groups), or with an apical depression or truncate (as in P. thripias species group); by the marginal carina being well developed and complete rather than well developed but thinner where it curves around the frons; and by the lateral notch being present rather than absent. It differs from the Picicola found on the passeriform families Tyrannidae , Furnariidae , Mimidae , Parulidae , Cracticidae , Dicruridae , and Ptilonorhynchidae by having the preantennal suture distinct rather than indistinct; by the frontal plate lacking a thickened posterior edge; and by the marginal carina thin but not interrupted where it curves around the frons rather than nearly broken where it curves around the frons. Picicola donwebbi is morphologically most similar to the Picicola found on the Pittidae as defined by Somadder and Tandan (1977) and is, therefore, placed in their P. quadripustulosus species group. In this species group, it is most closely allied with P. angolensis Somadder and Tandan, 1977 , by the males having only two sensilla associated with the endomeral arms; by the number of setae on abdominal tergites III–VI equaling 2 central (<11 total); and by the size of the conus which does not reach the base of the first antennal segment (scape). However, overall P. donwebbi is slightly smaller than P. angolensis in TW, HL, PW, MW, AWV, and TL, but has a significantly higher CI in both sexes. Further differences include the posterior margin of segment IX–XI not being emarginate in females of P. donwebbi and the number of preantennal setae (7 vs. 6). In “Degeerielline Ischnocera (Insecta: Phthiraptera ) of the Pittidae (Aves) ” ( Somadder & Tandan 1977), P. donwebbi keys out to couplet 6.

The following is a modification of that couplet:

6. Ocular seta and marginal temporal seta 2 very long; pigmentation pattern of abdominal dorsum characteristic ( Figs. 4 , 15):

- with posterior margin of segment IX–XI in female emarginate; male and female with CI <1.0 ................. .................................................................................................................. angolensis Somadder and Tandan - with posterior margin of segment IX–XI in female not emarginate; male and female with CI> 1.0 ........... .......................................................................................................................................... donwebbi , sp. nov.

Etymology. This species is named in honor of Dr. Donald Webb on occasion of his retirement after 40 years of service to the Illinois Natural History Survey and generations of entomology graduate students at the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana.

Figures

FIGURE 4. Phylogenetic tree derived from maximum-likelihood analysis of combined mitochondrial COI (379 bp) and nuclear EF- 1 α (348 bp) DNA sequences. Numbers above branches indicate support from 100 maximum-likelihood bootstrap replicates.

FIGURES 1 – 3. Picicola donwebbi. 1, entire dorsoventral male. 2, male genitalia. 3, female metanotum and dorsoventral abdomen.