Nirmus hecticus Nitzsch

Bush, Sarah E., 2017, Morphological revision of the hyperdiverse Brueelia - complex (Insecta: Phthiraptera: Ischnocera: Philopteridae) with new taxa, checklists and generic key, Zootaxa 4313 (1), pp. 1-443 : 319

Nirmus hecticus Nitzsch [in Giebel], 1866

Type host. Sericulus chrysocephalus (Lewin, 1808) — regent bowerbird.

Remarks. Giebel (1866: 366) claimed that this species is close to Nirmus mundus Nitzsch [in Giebel], 1866 [here Maculinirmus mundus ]. Nirmus hecticus was known from a single female only, which was lost with the Halle collection ( Clay & Hopkins 1955). The original description states that the head is quite yellow, elongated, rounded anteriorly, and has almost straight temporal carinae. This description, unfortunately, does not allow us to place this species in any of the genera treated here. The type host is a bowerbird ( Ptilonorhynchidae ), which is not known to host Maculinirmus . Typically, bowerbirds are hosts to Guimaraesiella, but the described head shape suggests that this species could belong to Indoceoplanetes . Since the holotype is lost and no other material from the type host is available, it seems prudent not to place this species in any of the genera treated here.