Lunaceps enigmaticus, Gustafsson & Olsson, 2012

Gustafsson, Daniel R. & Olsson, Urban, 2012, 3377, Zootaxa 3377, pp. 1-85 : 22-24

Lunaceps enigmaticus sp. nov.

( Fig. 9a–d; Table 1)

Lunaceps nereis Timmermann, 1954a: 628 (partim)

Lunaceps holophaeus nereis Timmermann ; Emerson, 1972: 94 (partim)

Lunaceps nereis Timmermann ; Forrester et al., 1995: 28 (partim)

Lunaceps nereis Timmermann ; Price et al., 2003: 196 (partim)

Type host: Micropalama himantopus ( Bonaparte, 1826)

Diagnosis: Head elongated ovoid ( Fig. 9a). Marginal carina interrupted laterally and anterior-laterally, more or less disappearing anterior to the ADS2. Hyaline margin comparatively broad. Ventral anterior plate roughly triangular, but with rounded posterior margin. Bulge in marginal carina augmenting ventral anterior plate. Dorsal preantennal suture broad. AS 1 and AVS3 aligned with ADS, AVS2 markedly posterior to AVS3. Lateral nodus missing. Ventral carina of uneven thickness. OS and MTS1 small, not approaching MTS3.

Posterior margin of pterothorax convergent with a small median point ( Fig. 9b).

Abdominal tergites II in males and II–III in females with wedge-shaped median indentation of the anterior margin, reaching more than a third of the tergite width. Paratergal plates broad with very narrow dark border marking, and males appear to lack them entirely in segments VII–VIII. Tergal heads transparent, with those of segments III–IV (sometimes V) slender and pointed, and those of segments V–VII squat, sometimes pointed. Tergal heads of segment V–VII blunt, almost rounded, in females. Anterior sublateral indentation very narrow ( Fig. 9b).

Female genital lobes with 5–6 posterior marginal setae, 3–4 sub-marginal setae, and 6–9 median marginal setae ( Fig. 9c). Parameres slender and gently curved, with a visible aperture one third of the length from the tip. Mesomere stout. Lower endomere kidney-shaped. Apodemal bridge broad but weakly coloured ( Fig. 9d).

Discussion: L. enigmaticus sp. nov. is well separated from other species on Calidris s. lat., with many characters of the preantennal area being more similar to those of Lunaceps parasitic on Numenius species. Lunaceps enigmaticus sp. nov. is somewhat reminiscent of L. mintoni , but differs in the shape of the paratergal plates and in the number of female genital setae. Lunaceps from Micropalama himantopus has previously been identified as L. nereis (e.g. Price et al., 2003), but L. enigmaticus sp. nov. can be separated from L. nereis by the shape of the head, the interruption of the marginal carina, the shape of the tergal heads and the male genitalia.

The type host of L. enigmaticus sp. nov. is also a somewhat aberrant species, which has occasionally been placed in Calidris and sometimes in its own genus, Micropalama . Recent studies have placed it well inside Calidris sensu lato ( Borowik and McLennan, 1999; Hebert et al., 2004; Thomas et al., 2004a; Baker et al., 2007; Gibson, 2010), but its exact placement differs among studies.

Etymology: The name refers to the dissimilarities between this species of Lunaceps and other Lunaceps species on Calidris sensu lato. Material examined:

Ex Micropalama himantopus

Holotype: ♂ 1, North and Central America ( NHML).

Paratype (on same slide): ♀ 1, North and Central America ( NHML) .

Non-type material: ♀ 5, ♂ 1, Trinidad and Tobago: Trinidad: Caroni Swamp , 21 October 1959, TRVL 3329 ( BM 1974-636 ) ( NHML) . ♀ 1, ♂ 1, Barbados, L. Harrison ( NHML) . ♀ 1, ♂ 1, [ Collection data not given on slide], BM 1970-558 ( NHML) (another slide with the same number and coming from the same host species, appears to contain no lice that can definitely be assigned to L. enigmaticus ) . ♂ 1, Canada: Manitoba: Churchill , June 1936, Meinertzhagen Collection 4794 ( NHML) . ♀ 2, ♂ 2, United States: Florida: Miami , 26 July 1919, K.C. Emerson Collection ( OSU) .

Ex Tringa flavipes (possibly stragglers):

♀ 1, ♂ 1, Canada: Manitoba: Whitewater Lake , 27 August 1996, Coll. T . D. Galloway / D. Wytrykush / L.M. Babey ( MONZ) .