Guimaraesiella flavala, Blyth, 1845

Gustafsson, Daniel R., Najer, Tomas, Zou, Fasheng & Bush, Sarah E., 2022, The ischnoceran chewing lice (Phthiraptera: Ischnocera) of bulbuls (Aves: Passeriformes: Pycnonotidae), with descriptions of 18 new species, European Journal of Taxonomy 800, pp. 1-88 : 5-6

Guimaraesiella flavala (Najer & Sychra in Najer et al., 2012)

Brueelia flavala Najer & Sychra in Najer et al., 2012: 42 .

Guimaraesiella flavala – Gustafsson & Bush 2017: 221.

Material examined

Paratypes (ex Hemixos flavala ) VIETNAM • 2 ♀♀; Ninh Binh Province, Cuc Phuong, Botanical Garden ; 20°14′55.2″ N 105°42′45.7″ E; 7 Feb. 2010; I. Literak leg.; ID: O. Sychra; V18 ; MMBC .

Non-type material (ex Hemixos castanonotus canipennis) CHINA • 1 ♀; Guanxi Province , Shiwandashan National Park; 20 Apr. 2005; S.E. Bush and D.H. Clayton leg.; host MBR-6686; lice P-894 ; NHML [on same slide as holotype of Brueelia colindalei sp. nov.] .

Type locality

Botanical Garden, Cuc Phuong, Ninh Binh Province, Vietnam.

Type host

Hemixos flavala Blyth, 1845 – ashy bulbul.

Other hosts

Hemixos castanonotus Swinhoe, 1870 – chestnut bulbul. Hemixos castanonotus canipennis Seebohm, 1890. New host record.

Remarks

The female examined from China corresponds well with the original description and illustration of Guimaraesiella flavala , except that the preantennal area is somewhat longer and narrower than originally illustrated ( Najer et al. 2012: fig. 3e). We tentatively consider this specimen to represent G. flavala , but more specimens are needed to confirm this identification. Our specimen constitutes a new host subspecies association, as well as the first record of this species from China.

Guimaraesiella flavala was originally illustrated as having a complete cross-piece along the vulval margin. We examined two paratype females to establish whether or not this cross-piece is present. The distal submarginal plate of Gu. flavala is almost entirely translucent, and the extent of the sclerotization along the vulval margin is difficult to assess; this is also the case in the examined female specimen from China. In at least one paratype female, the lateral section of the vulval margin is hyaline on one side. We interpret this to mean that there is no complete cross-piece in Gu. flavala , but more specimens are needed to establish the shape of the distal subgenital plate and its lateral submarginal bulges.