Megathellipeurus mumesensis, Mey, 2013

Mey, Eberhard, 2013, Chewing lice (Insecta, Phthiraptera) off Bruijn’s Brush-turkey Aepypodius bruijnii from New Guinea (AVes, Galliformes, Megapodiidae), Beiträge Zur Entomologie = Contributions to Entomology 63 (2), pp. 313-323 : 316

Megathellipeurus mumesensis n. sp.

( Figs 3-4 , 6, 8, 11-12, Table 2)

Type host: Aepypodius bruijnii (OUSTALET, 1880) .

Material examined:

8 ♂, 17 ♀ off three host individuals, especially 1 ♀ (M. 4387. a) off an old skin (no. 3; coll. A. A. Bruijn), in AMNH, Waigeo (no other data), leg. C. J. Heij & J. N. J. Post (12.xi.1999) ; 4 larvae (M. 3482. b-e), in ZIMH, 31.xii.1909 Waigeo , leg. E. Mey (16.iv.1990); and 8♂, 16 ♀ (M. 4614. a-n) off a freshly dead individual conserved in alcohol (no. 1909-01606), in NHMRot, 4.x.2002 Mumes , Waigeo, leg. C. J. Heij & C. Moeliker.

Holotype ♂ (M. 4614. b), allotype (M. 4614. j [left]) and 7 ♂, 16 ♀ paratypes in NHMRud.

Diagnosis:

Habitus of male (ventral) and female (dorsal) as in Figs 3 and 4 . This species is difficult to separate from M. jonesi MEY, 2000 [„ 1999 ”] (type host: Talegalla fuscirostris ssp.). However, since the structure of the male genitalia of M. mumesensis is similar to that of M. jonesi , but the structure of the endomeral part is quite different, it must be assumed that both forms are in fact reproductively isolated from each other and therefore must be given species rank. Otherwise hardly any characters can be discerned that would make a morphostructural differentiation any easier. The simplest method might be to compare the mesometathorax: in mumesensis the anterior corners distinctly project, while in jonesi they bulge only slightly (see Figs 9-12). The clypeal carina appears rather wider in jonesi than in mumesensis , and the preantennal outline of the former is more of a semicircle, in the latter more a semi-oval. The thumb-shaped growth of the male scapus in mumesensis is slightly longer than in jonesi (former 0.057 mm, latter 0.047 mm in length), but as with all these characters this should be verified using a larger series of M. jonesi .

Measurements:

see Table 2.

Etymology:

Named for the village of Mumes in the south of the eastern half of the island of Waigeo, where in October 2002 the freshly dead Bruijn’s Brush-turkey, which apparently only harbored this single chewing louse species, came into the prudent hands of Dr. C. J. Heij.

Figures

Fig. 3: Megathellipeurus mumesensis n. sp., male, ventral view. – Scale 1 mm.

Fig. 4: Megathellipeurus mumesensis n. sp., female, dorsal view. – Scale 1 mm.