New species and new records of chewing lice (Phthiraptera: Amblycera and Ischnocera) from bulbuls (Passeriformes: Pycnonotidae) in Vietnam

Abstract

Seven species of chewing lice (Insecta: Phthiraptera) were found on five species of bulbuls (Passeriformes: Pycnonotidae)in northern Vietnam. Three new species of the genera Brueelia and Philopteroides are described; they and their type hostsare: Brueelia flavala ex Hemixos flavala Blyth, 1845 B. cucphuongensis ex Pycnonotus finlaysoni Strickland, 1844 andPhilopteroides flavala ex Hemixos flavala Blyth, 1845. First records of chewing lice from Hemixos castanonotus Swin-hoe, 1870 and Iole propinqua (Oustalet, 1903), and a new host record for Myrsidea ochracei and Sturnidoecus sp. are also included.

Chewing lice from high‐altitude and migrating birds in Yunnan, China, with descriptions of two new species of Guimaraesiella

“…By contrast with the higher prevalences of lice in our samples compared with those previously reported from Vietnam, the mean intensity of lice in our sample is much lower (1.96 in Ailaoshan, 0.37 in Jinshanyakou; 1.08 overall) than that reported from Vietnam (3.61-19.2; Sychra et al, 2009;Najer et al, 2012aNajer et al, , 2012bNajer et al, , 2014. The mean intensity is known to be reduced in the post-breeding season compared with the pre-breeding season (Sychra et al, 2011); however, at least some of the Vietnamese data are from the same time of the year as those obtained in the present study (Najer et al, 2012a(Najer et al, , 2012b and thus cannot explain this difference between the Chinese and Vietnamese data entirely.…”

“…Moreover, because more than one species of Brueelia-complex lice may occur on the same host species, it is possible that older reports refer to more than one louse species from the same host as 'Brueelia sp.' Ignoring host species for which only a single specimen was examined, the prevalence of Brueelia-complex lice in our study ranges from 25% to 100% (Table 1), which is generally higher than published prevalences for Brueelia-complex lice (Sychra et al, 2009;Najer et al, 2012aNajer et al, , 2012bNajer et al, , 2014.…”

“…Comparisons with published prevalences of Brueelia ‐complex species are difficult because all of these were published prior to the recent revision of this complex (Gustafsson & Bush, ) and the correct genus of many of the published louse records is thus unknown. For example, at least six genera of Brueelia ‐complex lice occur on ‘babblers’ (Gustafsson & Bush, ), although all of the published prevalences for Brueelia ‐complex lice on these hosts are given as ‘ Brueelia sp.’ Moreover, because more than one species of Brueelia ‐complex lice may occur on the same host species, it is possible that older reports refer to more than one louse species from the same host as ‘ Brueelia sp.’ Ignoring host species for which only a single specimen was examined, the prevalence of Brueelia ‐complex lice in our study ranges from 25% to 100% (Table ), which is generally higher than published prevalences for Brueelia ‐complex lice (Sychra et al ., ; Najer et al ., , , ).…”

“…In recent years, this has begun to change. A large number of new host records and species have been described from across South and Southeast Asia (Hellenthal & Price, ; Mey, , ; Price et al ., ; Sychra et al ., ; Eduardo & Villa, ; Najer et al ., , , ; Mey & Barker, ; Gustafsson & Bush, ; Gustafsson et al ., , , , ). However, despite this recently increased interest in the chewing louse fauna of the region, no chewing lice are yet known from the majority of passeriform species in Southeast Asia.…”

Three new species of the genus Philopteroides Mey, 2004 (Phthiraptera, Ischnocera, Philopteridae) from New Zealand

“…Najer and Sychra (2012a, b) described two additional species, and we herewith describe three further new species from New Zealand, as well as transfer a species described in the genus Tyranniphilopterus by Mey (2004) to Philopteroides , bringing the total number of species to 13. We also give additional diagnostic characters to distinguish Philopteroides from closely related genera included in the Philopterus -complex ( sensu Mey 2004).…”