Myrsidea aynazae Halajian and Sychra

Halajian, Ali, Sychra, Oldrich, Luus-Powell, Wilmien & Engelbrecht, Derek, 2012, Chewing lice of the genus Myrsidea (Phthiraptera: Amblycera: Menoponidae) from passerines (Aves: Passeriformes) in South Africa, with descriptions of three new species, Zootaxa 3442, pp. 58-68 : 60-62

Myrsidea aynazae Halajian and Sychra sp. nov.

( Figs. 1–5 , 13–14 )

Type host: Phyllastrephus flavostriatus (Sharpe) —Yellow-streaked Greenbul

Female (n = 5). As in Figs. 1 and 13 . Hypopharyngeal sclerites weakly developed ( Fig. 2 ). Length of dorsal head seta (DHS) 10, 0.050–0.060; DHS 11, 0.100–0.110; ratio DHS 10/11, 0.45–0.60. Dorsal head seta 15 long with length more than 0.30. Gula with 4–6 setae on each side. Metasternal plate with 4–5 setae, metanotum not enlarged, with 6 marginal setae. Femur III with 18–24 setae in ventral setal brush.

Abdominal tergites as in Fig. 1 with tergites I–III somewhat enlarged and convex. Tergal setae, with median gap in each row: I, 9–11; II, 15–17; III, 16–21; IV, 15–16; V, 15–18; VI, 16; VII, 12–15; VIII, 9–10. Postspiracular setae extremely long (0.40–0.51) on II, IV and VIII; long (0.27–0.40) on I, III, VI and VII and short (0.20–0.25) on V. Sternal setae: II, 5–6 in each aster, 14–18 marginal between asters, 11–17 anterior; III, 15–21; IV, 41–44; V, 42– 52; VI, 42–52; VII, 24–31; VIII–IX, 10–14 marginal and 12–26 anterior; sternites III–VII without medioanterior setae. Anal fringe of 34–37 dorsal and 37–43 ventral setae. Dimensions: TW, 0.45–0.47; POW, 0.31–0.32; HL, 0.30–0.31; PW, 0.30–0.31; MW, 0.44–0.46; AW, 0.63–0.66; LSVII, 0.100–0.115; ANW, 0.24–0.26; TL, 1.57–1.67. Male (n = 6). As in Figs. 3 and 14 . Length of DHS 10, 0.050–0.065; DHS 11, 0.100–0.110; ratio DHS 10/11, 0.48– 0.65. Dorsal head seta 15 long (0.30–0.32). Gula with 4–6 setae on each side. Metasternal plate with 4 setae. Metanotum with 6–7 marginal setae. Femur III with 16–20 setae in ventral setal brush.

Tergal setae: I, 7–8; II, 10–15; III, 14–18; IV, 13–20; V, 16–19; VI, 11–20; VII, 12–19; VIII, 10–12. Postspiracular setae as for female. Sternal setae: II, 4–6 in each aster, 13–20 marginal between asters, 15–18 anterior ( Fig. 3 ); III, 15–17; IV, 37–40; V, 40–51; VI, 43–49; VII, 35–41; VIII, 19–26; sternites III–VII without medioanterior setae. Four spine-like setae posteriorly to the row of internal anal setae ( Fig. 3 ). Genital sac sclerite as in Figs. 4 and 5 . Dimensions: TW, 0.41–0.44; POW, 0.28–0.29; HL, 0.27–0.29; PW, 0.28–0.29; MW, 0.37–0.40; AW, 0.50–0.52; LSVII, 0.100; GW, 0.10–0.11; GL, 0.45–0.47; GSL, 0.08–0.10; PAL, 0.06–0.09; TL, 1.32–1.35.

Type material. Holotype female (A. Halajian SA01) ex Phyllastrephus flavostriatus (Pycnonotidae) , South Africa: Woodbush forest, Limpopo Province (23˚50'16.9"S, 29˚59'17.8"E), 11 March 2012, Halajian leg. Paratypes: 4 females and 6 males with the same data as holotype (A. Halajian SA02–06), all deposited in BMNH. Paratypes: 1 female and 1 male with the same data as holotype (A. Halajian SA07) deposited in DBUL.

Remarks. The weakly developed hypopharyngeal sclerites place Myrsidea aynazae sp. nov. close to M. wombeyi Johnson and Price 2006 and M. marksi Johnson and Price 2006 . Hellenthal and Price (2003) divided Myrsidea from bulbuls into three species groups: pycnonoti, plumosi and palmai. The three aforementioned species can be placed into a fourth group that is easily separated from the remainder by the reduction of the hypopharyngeal sclerites. We suggest the name wombeyi for this species group.

Myrsidea aynazae sp. nov. can be distinguished from M. wombeyi and M. marksi by the following characteristics: (1) larger number of setae on tergites I and II of female (9–11 vs. 6 and 15–17 vs. 8–13, respectively); (2) postspiracular seta V shorter than those on VI (against M. marksi ); (3) smaller dimension, especially TW (against M. wombeyi ) and (4) male genital sac sclerite ( Fig. 4 vs. Fig. 15 [in Johnson and Price 2006]).

Etymology. This species is named after the first author`s daughter, Aynaz.

Figures

FIGURES 1 – 5. Myrsidea aynazae sp. nov. 1. Female, dorsal-ventral view. 2. Hypopharyngeal sclerite. 3. Male dorso-ventral pterothorax and abdomen. 4. Male genital sac sclerite. 5. Distorted male genital sac sclerite. Scales 0.50 mm (Figs. 1, 3), 0.10 mm (Figs. 4, 5), 0.05 mm (Fig. 2).

FIGURES 13 – 18. Myrsidea aynazae. 13. Holotype female. 14. Paratype male. Myrsidea eslamii. 15. Holotype female. 16. Paratype male. Myrsidea mariquensis. 17. Holotype female. 18. Paratype male.