Hoplopleura pacifica Ewing, 1924

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 : 312

Hoplopleura pacifica Ewing, 1924

Hoplopleura pacifica Ewing, 1924: 9 , figs 1b,c, 2.

“ Hoplopleura oenomydis ”; Ferris 1932b: 121, figs 37a–i, 38a–k, 39. In part.

Hoplopleura pacifica Ewing, 1924 ; Hopkins 1949: 481.

“ Hoplopleura oenomydis ”; Ferris 1951: 139. In part.

Hoplopleura pacifica Ewing, 1924 ; Johnson 1959: 577.

Hoplopleura pacifica Ewing, 1924 ; Johnson 1964: 71, figs 1, 5, 9–11, 15.

Hoplopleura pacifica Ewing, 1924 ; Voss 1966: 30, figs 1–6.

Hoplopleura pacifica Ewing, 1924 ; Johnson 1972b: figs 13, 15–17, 19, 26.

Hoplopleura pacifica Ewing, 1924 ; Kim et al. 1986: 112, pl. 32.

Hoplopleura pacifica Ewing, 1924 ; Durden & Musser 1994: 31.

Hoplopleura pacifica ; Chuluun et al. 2005: 245.

Hoplopleura pacifica ; Paramasvaran et al. 2009: 306.

Hoplopleura pacifica ; Nur-Syazana et al. 2013: 3.

Type host: “ Rattus exulans hawaiiensis Stone, 1917 ” = Rattus exulans (Peale, 1848) —Polynesian rat.

Malaysian hosts: Rattus argentiventer (Robinson & Kloss, 1916) , Rattus exulans , Rattus norvegicus (Berkenhout, 1769) , Rattus rattus ( Linnaeus, 1758) , Rattus tiomanicus (Miller, 1900) .

Malaysian localities: Pulau Jarak Island (Perak) Peninsular Malaysia ( Johnson 1964); Selangor, Peninsular Malaysia ( Johnson 1964); Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo ( Johnson 1972b); Kuala Selangor Nature Park (Selangor) Peninsular Malaysia ( Chuluun et al. 2005); Chow Kit, Datuk Keramat, Jinjang, Kepong & Setapak (Kuala Lumpur) Peninsular Malaysia ( Paramasvaran et al. 2009); Carey Island (Selangor) Peninsular Malaysia ( Nur-Syazana et al. 2013); Serdang, Sepang, Rembau & Seremban, (Negeri Sembilan) Peninsular Malaysia ( Mohd-Said et al. 2014).

Geographical distribution: Tropical, subtropical and temperate regions ( Durden & Musser 1994; Price & Graham 1997).

Remarks: The adult male and female of Hoplopleura pacifica were described and partially illustrated by Ewing (1924). Ferris (1932b) considered that Hoplopleura pacifica had no significant morphological differences from Hoplopleura oenomydis and, therefore, synonymised the former species under H. oenomydis . Considering their different hosts, Hopkins (1949) doubted that H. pacifica was a junior synonym of H. oenomydis . Later, based on a morphological and size analysis, Johnson (1964) resurrected H. pacifica as a valid species different from H. oenomydis . Voss (1966) designated, described and illustrated a lectotype for H. pacifica .

In Malaysia, H. pacifica was collected in large numbers from several subspecies of Rattus rattus in the states of Negeri Sembilan, Selangor, Perak and Sarawak. In some localities, Hoplopleura pacifica has been recorded co-infesting rats with Polyplax spinulosa ( Chuluun et al. 2005; Paramasvaran et al. 2009; Nur-Syazana et al. 2013).