Guimaraesiella (Cicchinella) yuhinae, Gustafsson & Tian & Ren & Liu & Yu & Zou, 2021

Gustafsson, Daniel R., Tian, Chunpo, Ren, Mengjiao, Liu, Zhixiao, Yu, Xiaoping & Zou, Fasheng, 2021, Four new species of Guimaraesiella (Phthiraptera: Ischnocera: Brueelia-complex) from China, Zootaxa 5060 (3), pp. 333-352 : 345-348

Guimaraesiella (Cicchinella) yuhinae new species

( Figs 28–34 )

Type host: Yuhina flavicollis rouxi (Oustalet, 1896) – whiskered yuhina ( Zosteropidae ).

Type locality: Pingshan Village , Husa Township , Longchuan County, Dehong Prefecture, Yunnan Province, China .

Diagnosis. Guimaraesiella (Cicchinella) yuhinae keys to couplet 8 in the key of Gustafsson et al. (2019a), but it has a combination of characters that does not fit with either choice in the couplet: the gonopore of G. (C.) yuhinae is not crescent-shaped, and the marginal thickening is displaced medianly at the concavity ( Fig. 33 ). The choices in couplet 8 are G. (C.) ambusta Gustafsson et al., 2019a on one hand, and six other species on the other. Among these six species and from the characters listed in couplet 9, G. (C.) yuhinae is most similar to G. (C.) retusa Gustafsson et al., 2019a .

However, Guimaraesiella (Cicchinella) yuhinae can be separated from G. (C.) ambusta and G. (C.) retusa by the following combination of male genitalic characters: proximal mesosome rounded in G. (C.) yuhinae ( Fig. 33 ), but rectangular in the other species; ventral sclerite of G. (C.) yuhinae seemingly detached from more distal part and flanked by sublateral thickenings ( Fig. 33 ), but without such structures in the other species; gonopore of G. (C.) yuhinae shaped as in Fig. 33 , with small oblique thickenings at distal end, but shaped differently in the other species.

In addition, Guimaraesiella (Cicchinella) yuhinae can be separated from G. (C.) ambusta by the following characters: head, especially preantennal area, proportionately wider in G. (C.) yuhinae ( Fig. 30 ) than in G. (C.) ambusta ; male tergopleurite V with 3 ps on each side in G. (C.) yuhinae ( Fig. 28 ), but with 2 ps on each side in G. (C.) ambusta ; dorsal thickenings of mesosome much longer than wide, essentially longitudinal, in G. (C.) yuhinae ( Fig. 31 ), but wider than long and essentially latitudinal in G. (C.) ambusta ; female subgenital plate relatively broader, reticulation more extensive, and vulval margin more flattened in G. (C.) yuhinae ( Fig. 34 ) than in G. (C.) ambusta . Furthermore, Guimaraesiella (Cicchinella) yuhinae can be separated from G. (C.) retusa by the following characters: male abdominal segment IV with 2 ps on each side in G. (C.) yuhinae ( Fig. 28 ), but with 1 ps on each side in G. (C.) retusa ; lateral thickenings of mesosomal lobes displaced at concavity in G. (C.) yuhinae ( Fig. 33 ), but not in G. (C.) retusa ; connection between female subgenital plate and cross-piece narrower and vulval margin more flattened in G. (C.) yuhinae ( Fig. 34 ) than in G. (C.) retusa .

Description. Both sexes. Head trapezoidal, rather broad ( Fig. 30 ), lateral margins of preantennal area more or less straight, frons broadly concave. Dorsal preantennal suture reaches dsms, ads and lateral margins of head. Marginal carina broad, with irregular inner margin, preantennal nodi large, bulging. Head chaetotaxy as in Fig. 30 . Antennae sexually monomorphic. Preocular nodi larger than postocular nodi. Marginal temporal carina narrow, widening along posterior margin of head. Gular plate somewhat elongated. Thoracic and abdominal segments and chaetotaxy as in Figs 28–29 . Measurements as in Table 1 .

Male. Sternal plate II hidden by gut content in all examined specimens, and not illustrated. Genitalia with basal apodeme relatively broad, rectangular, with more or less straight lateral margins ( Fig. 31 ). Proximal mesosome rounded ( Fig. 33 ), ventral sclerite small, with pointed proximal end, and seemingly no connection to more distal thickenings of the mesosome; lateral to ventral sclerite are large thickenings of unclear homology. Gonopore as in Fig. 33 , with small oblique sclerites in distal end. Mesosomal lobes with postero-lateral point distal to concavity, and more or less rounded distal margins; marginal thickening displaced medianly at concavity; lpmes situated marginally in concavity. Dorsal thickenings of mesosome long. Parameral heads as in Fig. 32 ; distal parameres folded dorsally in all males examined, so exact shape difficult to ascertain; apparently elongated and attenuated distal to pst2; pst1–2 as in Fig. 31 .

Female. Subgenital plate roughly triangular, with extensive reticulation ( Fig. 34 ) and moderately wide connection to cross-piece. Vulval margin more or less gently rounded, with 3 long, slender vms and 6–8 short, thorn-like vss on each side; 3–5 long, slender vos on each side of subgenital plate; distal 1 vos median to vss.

Etymology. The species epithet is derived from the genus of the type host. This name ultimately derives from “ yuhin ”, the Nepali name for Yuhina gularis Hodgson, 1836 , also known as the stripe-throated yuhina.

Type material. Ex Yuhina flavicollis rouxi : Holotype ♂, Pingshan Village , Husa Township , Longchuan County, Dehong Prefecture, Yunnan Province, China, 8 Aug. 2013, Yanhua Zhang & Chuying Cui, bird ID J1418, GD- PHTH-00410 [marked with black dot on slide] ( IZGAS). Paratypes: 1♂, 5♀, same data as holotype, GD-PHTH- 00410–412 ( IZGAS) .

Remarks. Guimaraesiella (Cicchinella) yuhinae is the first species of Guimaraesiella described from a species of Yuhina , and the first species of a louse in the Brueelia -complex recorded from a member of the family Zosteropidae . In figures 28 and 29, the setae of the femora, tibiae, and tarsi II–III of legs II and III have not been illustrated because they were not clearly visible due to the legs being shrunken and distorted during the slide-mounting of all specimens examined.

Figures

FIGURES 28–29. Guimaraesiella (Cicchinella) yuhinae n. sp. 28, male habitus, dorsal and ventral views. 29, female habitus, dorsal and ventral views.

FIGURES 30–34. Guimaraesiella (Cicchinella) yuhinae n. sp. 30, male head, dorsal and ventral views. 31, male genitalia, dorsal view. 32, male paramere, ventral view. 33, male mesosome, ventral view. 34, female subgenital plate and vulval margin, ventral view. Figures 31–33 to same scale.