Polyplax spinulosa ( Burmeister, 1838 )

Kazim, Abdul-Rahman, Houssaini, Jamal, Tappe, Dennis & Heo, Chong-Chin, 2022, An annotated checklist of sucking lice (Phthiraptera: Anoplura) from domestic and wild mammals in Malaysia, with lists of hosts and pathogens, Zootaxa 5214 (3), pp. 301-336 : 319-320

Polyplax spinulosa ( Burmeister, 1838)

Pediculus spinulosus Burmeister, 1838 *: Species 8.

Haematopinus spinulosus (Burmeister) ; Denny 1842: 26, pl. 24: fig. 5.

Haematopinus spiniger (Burmeister) ; Denny 1842: 27, pl. 24: fig. 6.

Pediculus denticulatus Nitzsch, 1864: 24 .

Haematopinus spinulosus (Burmeister, 1839) [sic]; Giebel 1874: 38, pl.1: fig. 7.

Haematopinus spinulosus (Burmeister) ; Piaget 1880: 636, pl. 52: fig. 2.

Haematopinus spinulosus (Burmeister) ; Osborn 1896: 181.

Polyplax spinulosa ( Burmeister, 1838) ; Enderlein 1904a: 142.

Polyplax spinulosa (Burmeister) ; Enderlein 1905: 192, figs 1–4.

Haematopinus (Polyplax) spinulosus (Burmeister) ; Neumann 1909: 526, fig. 26.

Polyplax spinulosa (Burmeister) ; Fahrenholz 1912a: 30, figs 8–10, pl. 2: figs 8–13.

Polyplax spinulosa (Burmeister) ; Cummings 1915: 256, 268, figs 7, 15, 16.

Polyplax spinulosa (Burmeister, 1839) [sic]; Ferris 1923: 187, figs 119, 120A, D, F, H.

Polyplax spinulosa ( Burmeister, 1838) ; Fahrenholz 1938: 249, figs 1–8, 23c.

Polyplax spinulosa (Burmeister, 1839) [sic]; Ferris 1951: 211.

Polyplax spinulosa (Burmeister, 1839) [sic]; Johnson 1964: 83.

Polyplax spinulosa (Burmeister, 1839) [sic]; Mishra 1981: 103, figs 229–231.

Polyplax spinulosa (Burmeister, 1839) [sic]; Durden & Musser 1994: 73.

Polyplax spinulosa ; Chuluun et al. 2005: 245.

Polyplax spinulosa ; Paramasvaran et al. 2009: 306.

Polyplax spinulosa ; Nur-Syazana et al. 2013: 3.

Polyplax spinulosa ( Burmeister, 1838) ; Palma 2017: 243.

Type host: Rattus norvegicus (Berkenhout, 1769) —Brown rat.

Malaysian hosts: Leopoldamys edwardsi (Thomas, 1882) , Leopoldamys sabanus (Thomas, 1887) , Maxomys whitehead Thomas, 1894 ), Rattus argentiventer (Robinson & Kloss, 1916) , Rattus exulans (Peale, 1848) , Rattus norvegicus , Rattus rattus ( Linnaeus, 1758) , Rattus tiomanicus (Miller, 1900) .

Malaysian localities: Ulu Muda Forest Reserve (Kedah) Peninsular Malaysia ( Mariana et al. 2008); Chow Kit, Datuk Keramat, Jinjang, Kepong & Setapak (Kuala Lumpur) Peninsular Malaysia ( Johnson 1964, Paramasvaran et al. 2009); Port Dickson, Seremban & Rembau (Negeri Sembilan) Peninsular Malaysia ( Mohd-Said et al. 2014); Kuantan & Pulau Tioman (Pahang) Peninsular Malaysia ( Ferris 1923, Johnson 1964); Perak, Peninsular Malaysia ( Johnson 1964); Pulau Pinang, Peninsular Malaysia ( Nur-Syazana et al. 2013); Bukit Lajan Forest Reserve, Carey Island, Kuala Selangor Nature Park, Sepang, Serdang, Tanjung Karang & Ulu Gombak Forest Reserve (Selangor) Peninsular Malaysia ( Johnson 1964; Chuluun et al. 2005, Paramasvaran et al. 2009, Nur-Syazana et al. 2013); Gunung Kinabalu (Sabah) Malaysian Borneo ( Johnson 1964).

Geographical distribution: Cosmopolitan except Antarctica ( Durden & Musser 1994; Price & Graham 1997; Wang et al. 2020).

Remarks: The adult male and female of Polyplax spinulosa have been redescribed and/or illustrated by several authors (see synonymy above). In Malaysia, P. spinulosa has been collected from rodents living in forest, island, coastal and urban habitats, showing the capability of this species to infest new hosts ( Paramasvaran et al. 2009; Nur-Syazana et al. 2013). This is further demonstrated by Wang et al. (2020) in Australia, where the introduced P. spinulosa has expanded its host range by infesting several endemic rodent species. Chuluun et al. (2005) reported P. spinulosa from Maxomys whiteheadi in Selangor, but did not discuss that the host was new for this louse (see Durden & Musser 1994). Despite the many literature reports of P. spinulosa in Malaysia, its ecology and its interaction with hosts and pathogens are still poorly known (e.g. Dong et al. 2014b).

* For clarification of Burmeister’s date of publication, see Durden et al. (2014) and Palma (2017).