Columbicola reedi, Adams & Price & Clayton, 2005

Adams, Richard J., Price, Roger D. & Clayton, Dale H., 2005, Taxonomic revision of Old World members of the feather louse genus Columbicola (Phthiraptera: Ischnocera), including descriptions of eight new species, Journal of Natural History 39 (41), pp. 3545-3618 : 3593-3595

Columbicola reedi n. sp.

( Figures 148–151 )

Type host

Ptilinopus magnificus (Temminck) .

Description

Male head as in Figure 148 ; anterior margin rounded or squared, occasionally weakly indented; APW, 0.137 –0.147 (0.143); HW, 0.28–0.30 (0.292); HL, 0.56–0.65 (0.605); HL/ HW, 2.00–2.17 (2.07); SL, 0.118 –0.147 (0.130); medioposterior head setae medium length, not reaching posterior head margin. Thorax with PW, 0.22–0.26 (0.240); MW, 0.27–0.30 (0.292). Genitalia as in Figure 150 ; mesosome narrow, lateral sclerites thin, angled anteriorly; GW, 0.113 –0.127 (0.118). TL, 2.35–2.68 (2.52). Female head as in Figure 149 , with anterior margin as for male; APW, 0.132 –0.167; HW, 0.28–0.32; HL, 0.58–0.65; HL/ HW, 2.03–2.07. Thorax with PW, 0.23–0.27; MW, 0.28–0.34. Ventral terminalia as in Figure 151 ; subgenital plate groove narrow, anteriorly pointed, edges uneven. TL, 2.56–2.84 .

Type material

Holotype male at OSU, ex P. magnificus , New Guinea: E. Sepik Dist. , Wewak, 23-Oct-1972, 101673 . Paratypes ex P. magnificus at OSU, BMNH: 1 female, same data as holotype ; 1 male, L. Harrison Coll., # 929; 1 female, same except # 930; 2 males, L. Harrison.

Remarks

We have split C. reedi from the C. harrisoni paratype series on the basis of consistent differences in genitalia, i.e. the arrangement of the male transverse mesosomal sclerite and the narrower subgenital plate groove of the female. The holotype male and associated female are noticeably smaller than the other C. reedi specimens. These specimens are from New Guinea, which is home to one of the smaller subspecies of the host, P. magnificus . Geographically, P. magnificus varies greatly in size (del Hoyo et al. 1997) and the other specimens of C. reedi appear to be from 2 larger Australian subspecies. The trend shown by these few specimens of C. reedi suggests that this species may demonstrate Harrison’s Rule, which states that parasite size correlates with host size ( Harrison 1915, Clay 1951, Johson et al. 2005).

Etymology

This species is named for David L. Reed, University of Florida, Gainesville, in recognition of his work on host–parasite relationships.

Figures

Figures 147–164. Columbicola harrisoni: (147) female ventral terminalia. C. reedi: (148) male dorsal head; (149) female dorsal head; (150) male genitalia; (151) female ventral terminalia. C. gourae: (152) male dorsal head; (153) male genitalia; (154) female dorsal head; (155) female ventral terminalia. C. paradoxus: (156) male dorsal head; (157) male genitalia. C. clayae: (158) male dorsal head; (159) female dorsal head; (160) male genitalia; (161) female ventral terminalia. C. davisae: (162) male dorsal head; (163) female dorsal head; (164) male genitalia.