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Two new species of the genus Melinirmus Mey, 2017, are described from Australian honeyeaters (Meliphagidae). These are: Melinirmus coromandelica n. sp. ex Ptilotula penicillatus penicillatus (Gould, 1837) and Melinirmus palmai n. sp. ex Anthochaera carunculata (Shaw, 1790). A checklist of all known species of Brueelia-complex chewing lice known from the Meliphagidae is provided.

Organelle genome fragmentation has been found in a wide range of eukaryotic lineages; however, its use in phylogenetic reconstruction has not been demonstrated. We explored the use of mitochondrial (mt) genome fragmentation in resolving the controversial suborder-level phylogeny of parasitic lice (order Phthiraptera). There are approximately 5000 species of parasitic lice in four suborders (Amblycera, Ischnocera, Rhynchophthirina, and Anoplura), which infest mammals and birds. The phylogenetic relationships among these suborders are unresolved despite decades of studies. We sequenced the mt genomes of eight species of parasitic lice and compared them with 17 other species of parasitic lice sequenced previously. We found that the typical single-chromosome mt genome is retained in the lice of birds but fragmented into many minichromosomes in the lice of eutherian mammals. The shared derived feature of mt genome fragmentation unites the eutherian mammal lice of Ischnocera (family Trichodectidae) with Anoplura and Rhynchophthirina to the exclusion of the bird lice of Ischnocera (family Philopteridae). The novel clade, namely Mitodivisia, is also supported by phylogenetic analysis of mt genome and cox1 gene sequences. Our results demonstrate, for the first time, that organelle genome fragmentation is informative for resolving controversial high-level phylogenies.

Thirteen species of chewing lice in the Brueelia-complex are redescribed and illustrated. They are: Brueeliablagovescenskyi Balát, 1955, ex Emberizaschoeniclus (Linnaeus, 1758); B.breueri Balát, 1955, ex Chlorischloris (Linnaeus, 1758); B.conocephala (Blagoveshchensky, 1940) ex Sittaeuropaea (Linnaeus, 1758); B.ferianci Balát, 1955, ex Anthustrivialis (Linnaeus, 1758); B.glizi Balát, 1955, ex Fringillamontifringilla Linnaeus, 1758; B.kluzi Balát, 1955, ex Fringillacoelebs Linnaeus, 1758; B.kratochvili Balát, 1958, ex Motacillaflava Linnaeus, 1758; B.matvejevi Balát, 1981, ex Turdusviscivorus Linnaeus, 1758; B.pelikani Balát, 1958, ex Emberizamelanocephala Scopoli, 1769; B.rosickyi Balát, 1955, ex Sylvianisoria (Bechstein, 1792); B.vaneki Balát, 1981, ex Acrocephalusschoenobaenus (Linnaeus, 1758); Guimaraesiellahaftorni (Balát, 1958) ex Turdusiliacus Linnaeus, 1758; G.lais (Giebel, 1874) ex Lusciniamegarhynchos (Brehm, 1831). Redescriptions are made from type material where available. Holotypes are identified in Balát’s material when possible, and lectotypes are designated for B.blagovescenskyi, B.breueri, B.glizi, B.ferianci, B.kluzi, B.kratochvili, B.pelikani, and B.rosickyi; a neotype of Nirmuslais Giebel, 1874 is designated. Brueeliaweberi Balát, 1982, is placed as a synonym of Brueeliaconocephala (Blagoveshchensky, 1940).

Open-environment poultry farms that allow chickens to forage outdoors are becoming increasingly common throughout the United States and Europe; however, there is little information regarding the diversity and prevalence of ectoparasites in these farming systems. Eight to 25 birds were captured and surveyed for ectoparasites on each of 17 farms across the states of Washington, Idaho, Oregon, and California. Among the farms sampled, six louse species (Phthiraptera: Ischnocera & Amblycera) and two parasitic mite species (Acari: Mesostigmata) were collected and identified: Goniodes gigas (Taschenberg, 1879; Phthiraptera: Menoponidae) on one farm, Menacathus cornutus (Schömmer, 1913; Phthiraptera: Menoponidae) on one farm, Menopon gallinae (Linnaeus, 1758; Phthiraptera: Menoponidae) on six farms, Lipeurus caponis (Linnaeus, 1758; Phthiraptera: Philopteridae) on five farms, Menacanthus stramineus (Nitzsch, 1818; Phthiraptera: Menoponidae) on nine farms, Goniocotes gallinae De Geer (Phthiraptera: Philopteridae) on 11 farms, Dermanyssus gallinae (De Geer, 1778; Mesostigmata: Dermanyssidae) on two farms, and Ornithonyssus sylviarum (Canestrini & Fanzago, 1877; Mesostigmata: Macronyssidae) on one farm. The diversity of ectoparasites on these open environment poultry farms highlights a need for additional research on ectoparasite prevalence and intensity in these poultry farming systems.

Habitat loss is one of the main threats to species survival and, in the case of parasites, it is their hosts that provide their habitat. Therefore, extinction even at local scale of host taxa also implies the extinction of their parasites in a process known as co-extinction. This is the case of the bearded vulture (Gypaetus barbatus), which almost became extinct at the beginning of the twentieth century. After several attempts, this species was successfully reintroduced into the Alps at the end of the twentieth century. We collected 25 lice specimens from an electrocuted bearded vulture from Susa (Italian Alps) that were morphologically identifed as Degeeriella punctifer. Six individuals were studied by scanning electron microscopy, with particular emphasis on their cephalic sensorial structures, while four further specimens were characterized at molecular level by amplifying partial regions of the 12SrRNA, COX1 and elongation factor 1 alpha (EF-1) genes. From a morphological perspective, the number, type and arrangement of the sensillae on the two distal antennal segments is quite similar to that of other species of the family Philopteridae (Phthiraptera: Ischnocera). The mandibles and tarsal claws allow lice to cling frmly to their host's feathers. Phylogenetic analyses help unravel the paraphyletic nature of the genus Degeeriella and demonstrate the clear diferentiation between lice parasitizing Accipitriformes and Falconiformes, as well as the close relationship between D. punctifer, D. fulva, D. nisus and Capraiella sp. that, along with other genera, parasitize rollers (Aves: Coraciiformes).

Body size is one of the most fundamental characteristics of all organisms. It influences physiology, morphology, behavior, and even interspecific interactions such as those between parasites and their hosts. Host body size influences the magnitude and variability of parasite size according to Harrison’s rule (HR: positive relationship between host and parasite body sizes) and Poulin’s Increasing Variance Hypothesis (PIVH: positive relationship between host body size and the variability of parasite body size). We analyzed parasite–host body size allometry for 581 species of avian lice (~15% of known diversity) and their hosts. We applied phylogenetic generalized least squares (PGLS) methods to account for phylogenetic nonindependence controlling for host and parasite phylogenies separately and variance heterogeneity. We tested HR and PIVH for the major families of avian lice (Ricinidae, Menoponidae, Philopteridae), and for distinct ecological guilds within Philopteridae. Our data indicate that most families and guilds of avian lice follow both HR and PIVH; however, ricinids did not follow PIVH and the “body lice” guild of philopterid lice did not follow HR or PIVH. We discuss mathematical and ecological factors that may be responsible for these patterns, and we discuss the potential pervasiveness of these relationships among all parasites on Earth.

The Philopterus Complex includes several lineages of lice that occur on birds. The complex includes the genera Philopterus (Nitzsch, 1818; Psocodea: Philopteridae), Philopteroides (Mey, 2004; Psocodea: Philopteridae), and many other lineages that have sometimes been regarded as separate genera. Only a few studies have investigated the phylogeny of this complex, all of which are based on morphological data. Here we evaluate the utility of nuclear and mitochondrial loci for recovering the phylogeny within this group. We obtained phylogenetic trees from 39 samples of the Philopterus Complex (Psocodea: Philopteridae), using sequences of two nuclear (hyp and TMEDE6) and one mitochondrial (COI) marker. We evaluated trees derived from these genes individually as well as from concatenated sequences. All trees show 20 clearly demarcated taxa (i.e., putative species) divided into five well-supported clades. Percent sequence divergence between putative species (∼5–30%) for the COI gene tended to be much higher than those for the nuclear genes (∼1–15%), as expected. In cases where species are described, the lineages identified based on molecular divergence correspond to morphologically defined species. In some cases, species that are host generalists exhibit additional underlying genetic variation and such cases need to be explored by further future taxonomic revisions of the Philopterus Complex.

The dark pigmented large size common wing louse Lipeurus tropicalis Peters, 1931(Phthiraptera: Ichnocera: Philopteridae) was recorded new hosts and new locality records from Hyderabad district, Sindh, Pakista. The specimens were collected from Meleagris gallopavo (Linnaeus, 1758) Turkey fowland Pavo cristatus Linnaeus1758Pea fowl (Galliformes: Phasianidae) from urban and rural area of Hyderabad Sindh Pakistan. The species redescribed Morpho-taxonomically with special reference to its chaetotaxy and genitalia of both male and female sexes. The purpose of the present study is to compile the checklist of galliform chewing lice fauna and identify maximum number of species from Hyderabad, Sindh, region Pakistan.

The mass loss of insects is gaining momentum in the twenty-first century, compared with the previous 100 years. The loss is coinciding with accelerating threats, including megafires, flooding, temperature extremes, urbanisation, and habitat loss. In global diversity hotspots, where endemism is high, and native vegetation highly impacted, many insect species would likely be both endemic and threatened. However, insect diversity, endemicity and threat status are largely unknown in these regions. Here we assess the biodiversity and status of host-dependent insects in the southwest Australian (SWWA) hotspot. We selected nine insect families across three orders; Tingidae, Achilidae, Derbidae, Dictyopharidae, Triozidae (Hemiptera), Micropterigidae, Heliozidae (Lepidoptera), Boopidae, and Philopteridae (Psocodea). These families had 632+ species, of which 255 (~ 40%) were described. One species was formally listed as threatened, but a further 245 species potentially require conservation management. Threatening processes include coextinction (through loss or reduction in host populations), climate change, altered fire regimes, habitat loss, and fragmentation of host populations. Taxonomic and resourcing bias has inhibited attempts to describe the diversity and biogeography of the region, precluding comprehensive conservation assessments for the majority of insect families.Implications for insect conservationGiven the scale and intensity of threats faced by a hyperdiverse insect fauna in the southwest Australia biodiversity hotspot, a systematic approach to manage habitats at a landscape scale is most likely to succeed in conserving species in the short-term. Longer term solutions require addressing these knowledge gaps, thus increasing our understanding of the diversity and conservation needs of insect families in southwest Australia.

Five new species of Guimaraesiella Eichler, 1949 are described and illustrated from hosts in the Eurylaimidae and Calyptomenidae. They are Guimaraesiella corydoni n. sp. from Corydon sumatranus laoensisMeyer de Schauensee, 1929; Guimaraesiella latirostris n. sp. from Eurylaimus ochromalusRaffles, 1822; Guimaraesiella cyanophoba n. sp. from Cymbirhynchus macrorhynchus malaccensisSalvadori, 1874 and C. m. siamensisMeyer de Schauensee and Ripley, 1940; Guimaraesiella altunai n. sp. from Calyptomena viridis caudacutaSwainson, 1838; and Guimaraesiella forcipata n. sp. from Eurylaimus steerii steeriiSharpe, 1876. These represent the first species of Guimaraesiella described from the Calyptomenidae and Eurylaimidae, as well as the first species of this genus described from the Old World suboscines.