Brueelia rigbyi Gustafsson & Bush

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 : 510

Brueelia rigbyi Gustafsson & Bush , new species

( Figs 3–4 , 10 , 14 , 18 ; Table 1)

Type host: Corvinella melanoleuca (Jardine, 1831) (Laniidae) —magpie shrike.

Type locality. Nierop, near Rustenburg, Transvaal, South Africa.

Diagnosis. Brueelia rigbyi is most similar to B. clara , with which it shares the following characters: sternal and subgenital plates of both sexes with pale pigmentation; ps absent on abdominal segment III in both sexes; male parameres without constriction; male tergite V without psps; lf and mf of male mesosome reaching equally far distally. However, B. rigbyi differs from B. clara in the following characters: preantennal area with clearly convex lateral margins in B. rigbyi ( Fig. 18 ) but straight in B. clara ( Fig. 17 ); female abdominal segment IV–VII with 1 ps each on each side in B. rigbyi ( Fig. 4 ) but with 2 ps on each side in B. clara (fig. 2); mf narrow in B. rigbyi ( Fig. 10 ) but broad in B. clara ( Fig. 9 ); anterior end of basal plate flatly rectangular in B. rigbyi but rounded in B. clara ; vulval margin rounded in B. rigby ( Fig. 14 ) but sharply convergent in B. clara ( Fig. 13 ); connection between female subgenital plate and cross-piece slender in B. clara but broader in B. rigbyi .

Description. Head narrowly dome-shaped ( Fig. 18 ). Frons flat to slightly concave. Lateral margins of preantennal head convex, converging anteriorly, abruptly rounded. Marginal carina slender. Head chaetotaxy as in Fig. 18 . Gular plate long, triangular. Overall body pigmentation pale, moderate pigmentation only on head carinae, mandibles, gular plate, pedicel, all 3 flagellomeres, proepimera, and metepisterna. Measurements as in Table 1.

Male. Thorax and abdomen as in Fig. 3 ; psps absent on tergite V; segments IV–V with 1 ps; segment XI with 3 setae. Male genitalia as in Fig. 10 . Basal plate rectangular. Distal margin of mesosome with strongly sinuous thickening; lf and mf with narrow folds reaching the same level distally. Parameres triangular, lateral margins more or less straight.

Female. Thorax and abdomen as in Fig. 4 ; ps absent on segment III; segments IV, VI, and VII with one ps each; segment V in single examined female with two ps on one side and one ps on the other. Cross-piece of subgenital plate with broad connection to main plate as in Fig. 14 . Vulval margin gently rounded ( Fig. 14 ), with 6 slender vms on each side, and 5 thorn-like vss on each side; 5 slender vos on each side; 2 distal vos median to vss on each side.

Comments. Brueelia rigbyi is the only species of the group known from the Laniidae . We examined samples of Brueelia s. str. from the following Laniidae hosts: Eurocephalus angutimiens niveus Clancey, 1965 , E. rueppelli Bonaparte, 1853 , Lanius collurio Linnaeus, 1758 , L. excubitor excubitor Linnaeus, 1758 , L. meridionalis aucheri Bonaparte, 1853 , L. m. buryi Lorenz von Liburnau & Hellmayr, 1901, L. isabellinus Hemprich & Ehrenberg, 1833 , L. ludovicianus Linnaeus, 1766 , L. minor Gmelin, 1788 , L. nubicus Lichtenstein, 1823 , and L. vittatus Valenciennes, 1826 . None of this material belongs to the clara species group, but instead represent other species groups within Brueelia sensu stricto.

The type material listed below derives from two different, geographically separated localities, suggesting that Corvinella melanoleuca is the true host of B. rigbyi , and not the result of cross-contamination or naturally occurring straggling events.

Material examined. Types: Holotype ♂, Nierop, near Rustenburg, Transvaal, South Africa, Brit. Mus. 1958- 424 ( NHML). Paratypes: 1♀, same data as holotype ( NHML). 1♂, Tsessebe, Botswana (as “ Bechuanaland ”), 28 Dec. 1955, Brit. Mus. 1956-561 ( NHML).

Etymology. We name this species in honor of Mr Larry Rigby , co-founder of Larada Sciences Inc. (Salt Lake City, Utah, U.S.A.) in recognition of his contributions to the control of human head lice, as well as his strong interest in basic scientific research.

Figures

FIGURES 3 – 4 Brueelia rigbyi n. sp. ex Corvinella melanoleuca. 3, male habitus, dorsal and ventral views. 4, female habitus, dorsal and ventral views.

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.

FIGURES 13 – 16. Female subgenital plates and vulval margins, ventral views. 13, Brueelia clara n. sp. 14, Brueelia rigbyi n. sp. 15, Brueelia tkachi n. sp. 16, Brueelia coryliventer n. sp. Abbreviations: vms = vulval marginal setae; vos = vulval oblique setae; vss = vulval submarginal setae.

FIGURES 17 – 18. Male heads, dorsal and ventral views. 17, Brueelia clara n. sp. 18, Brueelia rigbyi n. sp. Abbreviations: ads = anterior dorsal seta; as 1 – 2 = anterior setae 1 – 2; avs 1 – 3 = anterior ventral setae 1 – 3; dsms = dorsal submarginal seta; mds = mandibular seta; mts 1 – 5 = marginal temporal setae 1 – 5; os = ocular seta; pcs = preconal seta; pas = preantennal seta; pos = preocular seta; pts = post-temporal seta; s 1 – 4 sensilla 1 – 4; vsms 1 – 2 = ventral submarginal setae 1 – 2.