Actornithophilus piceus lari ( Packard, 1870 )

Al-Ahmed, Azzam, Shobrak, Mohammed & Nasser, D., 2014, Chewing lice (Phthiraptera: Amblycera, Ischnocera) from Red Sea gulls with new host-parasite records, Zootaxa 3790 (4), pp. 567-576 : 570

Actornithophilus piceus lari ( Packard, 1870)

( Figs 3a , 4a )

Colpocephalum lari Packard, 1870: 96 , pl. 1, fig. 1.

Actornithophilus piceus lari ( Packard, 1870) ; Price et al. 2003: 84.

Type host: Larus marinus Linnaeus, 1758 —Great black-backed gull.

Material examined (n = 14). Ex Larus argentatus Pontoppidan, 1763: 2 ♂, 4♀, 1 Nymph (N), Jazan Fish Market (16o54'12''N, 42o32'40''E), 24 Nov. 2012.

Ex Larus michahellis Naumann, 1840: 3 ♂, 3♀, 1N, Jazan Coast (16o56'22''N, 42o32'35''E), 12 Dec. 2013.

Remarks. Species of the genus Actornithophilus are exclusively parasitic on members of the order Charadriiformes ( Price et al. 2003: 82) . The best available revision of this genus is by Clay (1962). Specimens of Actornithophilus are usually found on wing feathers, and characterized by a ‘”trilobed” head with conspicuous preocular slits. Actornithophilus piceus ( Denny, 1842) infests birds of the families Laridae and Sternidae , but the subspecies A. piceus lari ( Figs 3a , 4a ) is found only on gulls ( Laridae ). This species is characterized by: one very short seta on the labial palp base; a single seta on the mesosternal plate; latero-ventral seta of third tibia very fine and thin; and abdomen distally with two long seta arising from the last abdominal tergum. This is the first record of A. piceus lari from the yellow-legged gull ( Larus michahellis ).

Figures

FIGURE 3. a, male Actornithophilus piceus lari; b, male Austromenopon transversum; c, male Quadraceps punctatus clayae; d, male Quadraceps punctatus regressus; e, male Saemundssonia lari; f, female Saemundssonia lari.

FIGURE 4. a, male genitalia Actornithophilus piceus lari; b, prothorax Austromenopon transversum; c, male genitalia Quadraceps punctatus; d, male genitalia Saemundssonia lari. Prothorax pigmentation: e, Quadraceps punctatus pallidus; f, Quadraceps punctatus clayae; g, Quadraceps punctatus regressus.