Cuculoecus distinctus Ansari, 1955

Naz, Saima, Najer, Tomas & Gustafsson, Daniel R., 2020, An annotated list of the species of lice (Insecta: Phthiraptera) described by Mohammad A. - R. Ansari, Zootaxa 4809 (3), pp. 401-448 : 431

Cuculoecus distinctus Ansari, 1955

Cuculoecus distinctus Ansari, 1955e: 45 .

Cuculoecus distinctus Ansari, 1956a: 397 . Junior primary homonym.

Cuculoecus distinctus Ansari, 1958c: 91 , figs 178–181. Junior primary homonym.

Current status: Cuculoecus distinctus Ansari, 1955e . Species inquirenda.

Type host: Clamator jacobinus jacobinus (Boddaert) .

Type locality: None given.

Type material: Not found in any collection we have surveyed, and is presumed lost.

Remarks: The louse illustrated by Ansari (1958c: figs 178–181) does not belong to Cuculoecus . Species of Cuculoecus have tergopleurites widely interrupted medianly, a broad frons with a prominent dorsal anterior plate, and male genitalia reminiscent of those of the Philopterus -complex. By contrast, the illustration of Cuculoecus distinctus appears to have entire tergopleurites (except perhaps on segments VI–VIII), a narrow frons apparently without a dorsal anterior plate, and male genitalia much unlike those of the Philopterus -complex. Most likely, C. distinctus belongs to another genus, but Ansari’s poor illustration and brief text description are not sufficient to place it in any known genus, without examining the types. As these appear to be lost, we consider C. distinctus to be a species inquirenda.