Myrsidea rozsai Price and Johnson

Price, Roger D. & Johnson, Kevin P., 2009, Five new species of Myrsidea Waterston (Phthiraptera: Menoponidae) from tanagers (Passeriformes: Thraupidae) in Panama, Zootaxa 2200, pp. 61-68 : 62-63

Myrsidea rozsai Price and Johnson , new species

Type host. Euphonia laniirostris d'Orbigny & Lafresnaye , the Thick-billed Euphonia .

Female (3). Gula with 4 or 5 setae on each side. Metanotum and dorsal abdomen shaped as in Price and Dalgleish (2006: Fig. 10). Metanotum not enlarged, posterior margin with 8–12 setae; metasternal plate with 6 setae. Abdominal tergite I slightly enlarged with gently curved posterior margin, II–III with small medioposterior convexity. Tergal setae: I, 9–10; II, 23–26; III–IV, 27–32; V–VI, 25–28; VII, 22–24; VIII, 16– 19. Postspiracular setae extremely long on II, IV, and VIII (>0.35 long), considerably shorter on I, III, V, and VI (<0.20 long), and intermediate between these lengths on VII. Sternal setae: II, 4 in each aster, 16–19 marginal between asters, 13–15 anterior; III, 21–25; IV, 27–33; V, 30–34; VI, 27–32; VII, 16–17; VIII–IX, 19–22. Anus with 31–37 setae in each ventral and dorsal fringe. Dimensions: TW, 0.42–0.43; HL, 0.30–0.31; PW, 0.27–0.29; MW, 0.42–0.44; AWIV, 0.59–0.61; ANW, 0.20–0.21; TL, 1.50–1.56.

Male (3). Much as in Price and Dalgleish (2006: Fig. 1) except for having more numerous abdominal tergal and sternal setae. Gula with 5, sometimes 4, setae on each side. Metanotal posterior margin with 10–11 setae; metasternal plate with 6 setae. Tergal setae: I, 18–22; II, 25–28; III–VI, 25–33; VII, 24–30; VIII, 19–21. Postspiracular setae as for female. Sternal setae: II, 4, less often 3, in each aster, 15–17 marginal between asters, 14–16 anterior; III, 24–28; IV, 25–32; V, 30–35; VI, 27–33; VII, 17–22; VIII, 10. Genital sac sclerite as in Price and Dalgleish (2006: Fig. 7 ), tapered apically, with median dark line and small subapical process on each side. Dimensions: TW, 0.39; HL, 0.28; PW, 0.27–0.28; MW, 0.35; AWIV, 0.41–0.43; GL, 0.38–0.40; TL, 1.20–1.24.

Type material. Holotype female, ex E. laniirostris , PANAMA: Serrania del Maje, 15 Feb 2006, JMD 595, K Johnson. Paratypes: 2 females, 2 males, same data as holotype; 1 male, same except Charco Azul, 2 Mar 2006, JMD 916.

Remarks. This species is morphologically very similar to M. violaceae Price and Dalgleish ex Euphonia violacea (Linnaeus) , with both the female and male keying to M. violaceae in couplets 10 and 9, respectively. The female of M. rozsai is separated by having fewer setae on tergite I, more setae on tergites II–IV and sternites III–IV, a greater total length, and a tendency for other dimensions to be larger. While there are no clearcut characters separating the males of these two species, that of M. rozsai has a greater total length, other dimensions at the upper limits for M. violaceae , and a tendency for more sternal setae on VII–VIII.

Etymology. This species is named for Lajos Rózsa, Hungarian Natural History Museum, Budapest, in recognition of his many contributions to louse ecology.

The four new species described below belong to the fusca species group as discussed in Price and Dalgleish (2006), with both sexes having a well-defined median gap in the rows of tergal setae.

FIGURES 1–6. 1–2. Myrsidea cruickshanki . 1. Female metanotum and dorsal abdomen. 2. Male genital sac sclerite. 3–4. M. patersoni . 3. Female metanotum and dorsal abdomen. 4. Male genital sac sclerite. 5–6. M. valimi . 5. Female metanotum and dorsal abdomen. 6. Male genital sac sclerite.

Figures

FIGURE 7. Phylogeny based on maximum likelihood analysis of 379 bp of the mitochondrial COI gene. Search involved 10 random addition replicates using a GTR + I + G model. Branches are proportional to substitutions per site (scale indicated). Bold names indicate species described in this study. M. = Myrsidea.