Brueelia Kéler, 1936

Gustafsson, Daniel R. & Bush, Sarah E., 2015, Four new species of Brueelia Kéler, 1936 (Phthiraptera: Ischnocera: Philopteridae) from African songbirds (Passeriformes: Sturnidae and Laniidae), Zootaxa 4013 (4), pp. 503-518 : 505

Brueelia Kéler, 1936

Type species: Brueelia rossittensis Kéler, 1936: 257 [= Brueelia brachythorax ( Giebel, 1874) : 134] ex Bombycilla garrulus garrulus (Linnaeus, 1758), by original designation.

clara species group

Brueelia clara new species

Brueelia rigbyi new species

Brueelia tkachi new species Brueelia coryliventer new species

These four species share the following characters with Brueelia brachythorax : dorsal preantennal suture absent; marginal carina complete, but displaced posteriorly and dorsally at osculum; as3 absent; pns absent; mts2 short; both sexes without tps on tergites II–VII; psps absent on female tergites II–V; female subgenital plate with crosspiece; tergite XI in female not fused with IX+X; male mesosome with large lateral lobes and distal ornamentation (rugose area, fringes, papillation, etc.); parameres with blunt proximal ends that do not extend medianly to overlap with proximal mesosome.

All four species described here have the following characters in common which differ from B. brachythorax : pos set on ocular lens; ss present on female tergite VIII; mesosome of the male genitalia with a sinuous distal thickening. This thickening has a lateral fold (lf) and a median fold (mf) ( Fig. 9 ), with a densely rugose area in between. These unique characters unify these four species and warrant their treatment as a distinct species group within Brueelia sensu stricto.

Figures

FIGURES 9 – 12. Male genitalia, dorsal views. 9, Brueelia clara n. sp. 10, Brueelia rigbyi n. sp. 11, Brueelia tkachi n. sp. 12, Brueelia coryliventer n. sp. Abbreviations: lf = lateral fold; mf = median fold.