Myrsidea coronatae Price & Dalgleish, 2007

Literak, Ivan, 2017, Where are the species limits? Morphology versus genetics in Neotropical chewing lice of the genus Myrsidea (Phthiraptera: Menoponidae), with description of three new species, Zootaxa 4324 (1), pp. 161-179 : 165-166

Myrsidea coronatae Price & Dalgleish, 2007

Myrsidea coronatae Price & Dalgleish, 2007: 5 , figs 13–15.

Myrsidea coronatae Price & Dalgleish, 2007 . Mascarenhas (2008: 62). Myrsidea coronae [sic] Price & Dalgleish, 2007. Sychra et al. (2009: 501).

Type host. Paroaria coronata (J.F. Miller, 1776) —Red-crested cardinal ( Thraupidae ).

Type locality. Kaena Point , Oahu, Hawaii, U.S.A.

Material examined. Ex Paroaria coronata : 4♀, 4♂, Teniente Agripino Enciso National Park, Paraguay (21°12'S, 61°39'W), 31 Aug.–2 Sep. 2012 ; 68♀, 40♂, Los Tres Gigantes Biological Station , Paraguayan Pantanal, Paraguay (20°04'S, 50°09'W), 6–9 Sep. 2012, I. Literak.

Ex Paroaria capitata (d'Orbigny & Lafresnaye, 1837) —Yellow-billed cardinal ( Thraupidae ): 2♀, 2♂, Los Tres Gigantes Biological Station, Paraguayan Pantanal, Paraguay (20°04'S, 50°09'W), 6–9 Sep. 2012, I. Literak.

Remarks. Paroaria coronata is distributed over Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina, Paraguay and Bolivia, but it was also introduced to the Hawaiian Islands around 1930 (del Hoyo et al. 2011). Myrsidea coronatae was originally described from Hawaii by Price & Dalgleish (2007), but it had already been reported from the same host as “ Myrsidea incerta ( Kellogg, 1896) ” from Honolulu by Alicata et al. (1948). We are confident that this is a wrong identification, because M. incerta is parasitic on Catharus mininus (Lafresnaye) and C. ustulatus (Nuttall) in the family Turdidae ( Clay 1966) . Furthermore, Myrsidea coronatae and M. incerta differ by the median gap in tergal setal rows, absent in M. coronatae , and the shape of the genital sac sclerite in males. Myrsidea coronatae was first reported from mainland South America by Mascarenhas (2008) in Brazil. Later, it was recorded from Paroaria capitata in Brazil by Sychra et al. (2009). Our samples are the first record of this louse from Paraguay from both hosts.

A portion of COI gene was sequenced from specimens of Myrsidea from Paroaria coronata and P. capitata from Paraguay (GenBank accession numbers KY 113131 and KY 113132 ). The observed divergence among these samples was 0.3%, justifying their conspecific status. Furthermore, their divergence from other sequences of Neotropical Myrsidea ( Table 1) exceeded 19.2% in all cases, the closest being Myrsidea pagei Price & Johnson, 2009 (A/N FJ 171287 ). Myrsidea coronatae is morphologically very close to M. castroae Valim, Price & Johnson, 2011 , but the net average p-distance between these two species is 19.8%.

Our specimens differ from the original description of Myrsidea coronatae by setal counts and dimensions, as follows (data from Price & Dalgleish 2007 are in parentheses):

Female (n = 6). Metanotum posterior margin straight with 6–9 (7–8) setae. Metasternal plate with 6–7 (6) setae. Tergal setae: I, 8–10 (11–13); II, 9–12 (11–13); III, 14–16 (18–24); IV, 18–22 (22–24); V, 18–22 (22–24); VI, 18–20 (21–22); VII, 14–18 (17–20); VIII, 7–10 (10). Sternal setae: II, 14–17 (15–18) marginal setae between asters, 10–13 (14–15) anterior; IV, 34–43 (36–44); VII, 15–18 (16–18). Dimensions: TW, 0.46–0.48 (0.47–0.49); HL, 0.31–0.33 (0.32–0.33); PW, 0.29–0.31 (0.32–0.33); MW, 0.45–0.47 (0.49–0.51); AWIV, 0.61–0.67 (0.66– 0.70); TL, 1.50–1.58 (1.61–1.66).

Male (n = 6). Metanotum with 6–8 (7–8) setae. Tergal setae: I, 11–12 (14–16); II, 11–15 (15–18); III, 14–17 (18–24); IV, 16–20 (18–24); V, 17–20 (18–24); VI, 16–20 (18–24); VII, 14–17 (16–22); VIII, 9–11 (11–13). Sternal setae: II, 11–15 (13–16) marginal setae between asters, 7–11 (9–15) anterior; III, 23–30 (29–36); IV, 29–35 (33–39); V, 32–37 (33–39); VI, 26–31 (33–39); VII, 15–20 (22–23). Dimensions: TW, 0.42–0.44 (0.43–0.44); PW, 0.27 (0.29–0.30); MW, 0.37–0.38 (0.38–0.41); TL, 1.27–1.35 (1.29–1.35).