@article {96383, title = {Do Parasitic Lice Exhibit Endemism in Parallel with Their Avian Hosts? A Comparison across Northern Amazonian Areas of Endemism}, journal = {Journal of Parasitology}, volume = {109}, year = {2023}, month = {Oct-12-2023}, pages = {506{\textendash}513}, abstract = {

Areas of endemism are the smallest units in biogeography and can be defined as biologically unique areas comprising taxa with common geographic limits to their distributions. High beta diversity within Amazonia is often related to turnover among these areas. For decades, evolutionary biologists have tried to comprehend the mechanisms generating and maintaining the spatial structure and high diversity of free-living Amazonian organisms, particularly birds. However, few studies have tried to analyze these patterns among their parasites. Host and parasite associations involve shared history that may allow us to better understand the fine-scale evolutionary history of the host. Here we compare the coevolutionary patterns among 2 avian host species with distinct patterns of genetic structure in northern Amazonia, Dendrocincla fuliginosa (Aves: Dendrocolaptidae) and Dixiphia pipra (Aves: Pipridae), and their ectoparasitic lice (Insecta: Phthiraptera), Furnaricola sp. ex Dendrocincla fuliginosa, Myrsidea sp. ex Dixiphia pipra, and Tyranniphilopterus sp. ex Dixiphia pipra. We obtained sequences of the mitochondrial gene cytochrome oxidase subunit I from hosts and parasites collected on opposite banks of the Negro and Japur\á rivers, which delimit 3 areas of endemism in northern Amazonia: Napo, Jau, and Guiana. Our results demonstrate that the Negro River is a geographical barrier for both Furnaricola sp. and its avian host, Dendrocincla fuliginosa. Phylogenies of both hosts, Dendrocincla fuliginosa, and the parasites, Furnaricola sp., show monophyletic clades on opposite margins of the river that are not sister taxa. These clades have a mean uncorrected p-distance of 17.8\% for Furnaricola sp. and 6.0\% for Dendrocincla fuliginosa. Thus, these parasite clades constitute distinct evolutionary lineages and may even be distinct species. In contrast, Dixiphia pipra has no population structure associated with either river. Accordingly, data from their lice Myrsidea sp. indicate weak support for different clades on opposite margins of the Negro River, whereas data from their lice Tyranniphilopterus sp. indicate weak structure across the Japur\á. This study is a first step toward understanding the effects of biogeographic history on permanent ectoparasites and suggests that host biogeographic history is to some extent a determinant of the parasite\&$\#$39;s history. Furthermore, the parasite\&$\#$39;s evolutionary history is an additional source of information about their hosts\&$\#$39; evolution in this highly diverse region of northern Amazonia.

}, keywords = {Amazoni, Biogeography, birds, coevolution, Dendrocincla fuliginosa, Dixiphia pipra, endemism, lice, Negro River, Tyranniphilopterus}, issn = {0022-3395}, doi = {10.1645/18-135}, url = {https://bioone.org/journals/journal-of-parasitology/volume-109/issue-5/18-135/Do-Parasitic-Lice-Exhibit-Endemism-in-Parallel-with-Their-Avian/10.1645/18-135.short}, author = {Mirna Amo{\^e}do Lima and Jason D. Weckstein and Romina Batista and Camila Cherem Ribas} } @article {96208, title = {There and back again: switching between host orders by avian body lice (Ischnocera: Goniodidae)}, journal = {Biological Journal of the Linnean Society}, volume = {102}, year = {2011}, month = {March-2011}, pages = {614-625}, abstract = {

Studies of major switches by parasites between highly divergent host lineages are important for understanding new opportunities for parasite diversification. One such major host switch is inferred for avian feather lice (Ischnocera) in the family Goniodidae, which parasitize two distantly-related groups of birds: Galliformes (pheasants, quail, partridges, etc.) and Columbiformes (pigeons and doves). Although there have been several cophylogenetic studies of lice at the species level, few studies have focused on such broad evolutionary patterns and major host-switching events. Using a phylogeny based on DNA sequences for goniodid feather lice, we investigated the direction of this major host switch. Unexpectedly, we found that goniodid feather lice have switched host orders, not just once, but twice. A primary host switch occurred from Galliformes to Columbiformes, leading to a large radiation of columbiform body lice. Subsequently, there was also a host switch from Columbiformes back to Galliformes, specifically to megapodes in the Papua\–Australasian region. The results of the present study further reveal that, although morphologically diagnosable lineages are supported by molecular data, many of the existing genera are not monophyletic and a revision of generic limits is needed

}, keywords = {coevolution, Columbiformes, ectoparasites, Galliformes, host-switching, phylogeny.}, issn = {0024-4066}, doi = {10.1111/j.1095-8312.2010.01612.x}, url = {https://academic.oup.com/biolinnean/article/102/3/614/2450708}, author = {Kevin P. Johnson and Jason D. Weckstein and Meyer,Mathys J. and Clayton,Dale H.} } @article {95676, title = {Molecular phylogenetics of the avian feather louse Philopterus-complex (Phthiraptera: Philopteridae)}, journal = {Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution}, volume = {174}, year = {2022}, month = {Sep-01-2022}, pages = {7 pp}, abstract = {

Highlights

The avian feather louse Philopterus-complex (Phthiraptera: Ischnocera: Philopteridae) currently contains 12 genera that have been grouped together because of shared morphological characteristics. Although previously lumped into a single genus (Philopterus), more recent morphological treatments have separated the group into several different genera. Here we evaluate the status of these genera using DNA sequence data from 118 ingroup specimens belonging to ten genera in the Philopterus-complex: Australophilopterus Mey, 2004, Cinclosomicola Mey 2004, Clayiella Eichler, 1940, Corcorides Mey, 2004, Mayriphilopterus Mey, 2004, Paraphilopterus Mey 2004, Philopteroides Mey 2004, Philopterus Nitzsch, 1818, Tyranniphilopterus Mey, 2004, and Vinceopterus Gustafsson, Lei, Chu, Zou, and Bush, 2019. Our sampling includes 97 new louse-host association records. Our analyses suggest that the genus Debeauxoecus Conci, 1941, parasitic on pittas (Aves: Pittidae), is outside of the Philopterus-complex, and that there is strong support for the monophyly of a group containing the remaining genera from the complex. Some diverse genera, such as Philopterus (sensu stricto) and Mayriphilopterus are supported as monophyletic, whereas the genera Australophilopterus, Philopteroides, and Tyranniphilopterus are not. The present study is the largest phylogenetic reconstruction of avian lice belonging to the Philopterus-complex to date and suggests that further generic revision is needed in the group to integrate molecular and morphological information.

}, keywords = {Australophilopterus, Chewing lice, Cinclosomicola, Corcorides, dna, Mayriphilopterus, Molecular Biology, Philopteroides, Species complex, taxonomy, Tyranniphilopterus, Vinceopterus}, issn = {1055-7903}, doi = {10.1016/j.ympev.2022.107556}, url = {https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1055790322001695}, author = {KOLENCIK, STANISLAV and Kevin P. Johnson and Avery R. Grant and Michel Paiva Valim and Kamila M. D. Kuabara and Jason D. Weckstein and Julie M. Allen} } @article {95610, title = {Phylogenetics and host-specificity of the mega-diverse louse genus Myrsidea (Amblycera: Menoponidae)}, journal = {Systematic Entomology}, volume = {47}, year = {2022}, month = {Jan-19-2022}, pages = {390-401}, type = {Early online version}, abstract = {

Myrsidea Waterston is the most diverse genus of chewing lice, primarily parasitizing perching birds (Passeriformes), which is the most speciose avian order. Myrsidea also parasitize several hosts from non-passerine groups, including toucans, barbets, woodpeckers (Piciformes) and hummingbirds (Apodiformes). To examine host specificity, host switching and generic limits, we reconstructed a phylogeny of the avian feather louse genus Myrsidea using DNA sequence data from two fragments of the mitochondrial COI gene and a fragment of the nuclear EF-1\α gene for 152 Myrsidea specimens collected from 23 avian host families. Unlike other highly diverse louse genera, only a small proportion of Myrsidea species parasitize more than one host species. We found that host family has significant phylogenetic signal on the Myrsidea phylogeny. These results suggest that Myrsidea is generally highly host-specific, with some exceptions where host switching is important. We found that there are two separate groups of Myrsidea that parasitize toucans, and that both are nested within Myrsidea found on perching birds, suggesting that these toucan ectoparasites may have arisen from two independent host switching events. Lastly, representatives of the genus Ramphasticola Carriker, which was originally described as a distinct genus due to a suite of morphologically unique characters, falls in with a strongly supported clade of Myrsidea parasitizing Ramphastos toucans, and therefore we definitively place Ramphasticola as a synonym of Myrsidea.

}, keywords = {Chewing lice, dna, parasites, Phylogeny, toucans}, issn = {0307-6970, 1365-3113}, doi = {10.1111/syen.12536}, url = {https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/syen.12536}, author = {KOLENCIK, STANISLAV and Joseph A. Cacioppo and Kevin P. Johnson and Julie M. Allen and Old{\v r}ich Sychra and Jason D. Weckstein} } @article {95416, title = {The interplay between host biogeography and phylogeny in structuring diversification of the feather louse genus Penenirmus}, journal = {Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution}, volume = {165}, year = {2021}, month = {Dec-2021}, pages = {12 pp}, type = {e-107297 Open Access}, abstract = {

Highlights:

Parasite diversification is influenced by many of the same factors that affect speciation of free-living organisms, such as biogeographic barriers. However, the ecology and evolution of the host lineage also has a major impact on parasite speciation. Here we explore the interplay between biogeography and host-association on the pattern of diversification in a group of ectoparasitic lice (Insecta: Phthiraptera: Penenirmus) that feeds on the feathers of woodpeckers, barbets, and honeyguides (Piciformes) and some songbirds (Passeriformes). We use whole genome sequencing of 41 ingroup and 12 outgroup samples to develop a phylogenomic dataset of DNA sequences from a reference set of 2395 single copy ortholog genes, for a total of nearly four million aligned base positions. The phylogenetic trees resulting from both concatenated and gene-tree/species-tree coalescent analyses were nearly identical and highly supported. These trees recovered the genus Penenirmus as monophyletic and identified several major clades, which tended to be associated with one major host group. However, cophylogenetic analysis revealed that host-switching was a prominent process in the diversification of this group. This host-switching generally occurred within single major biogeographic regions. We did, however, find one case in which it appears that a rare dispersal event by a woodpecker lineage from North America to Africa allowed its associated louse to colonize a woodpecker in Africa, even though the woodpecker lineage from North America never became established there

}, keywords = {coevolution, host-switching, parasite}, issn = {1055-7903}, doi = {10.1016/j.ympev.2021.107297}, url = {https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S105579032100230X}, author = {Kevin P. Johnson and Jason D. Weckstein and Stephany Virrueta-Herrera and Jorge Do{\~n}a} } @article {94956, title = {Extensive in situ radiation of feather lice on tinamous}, journal = {Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences}, volume = {287}, year = {2020}, month = {02-2020}, pages = {7 pp}, type = {e-20193005}, abstract = {

Tinamous host the highest generic diversity of lice of any group of birds, as well as hosting representatives of all four avian feather louse ecomorphs. Although the generic diversity of tinamou feather lice is well documented, few attempts have been made to reconstruct the phylogenetic relationships among these lice. To test whether tinamou feather lice form a monophyletic group as a whole, we used whole-genome sequencing to estimate a higher-level phylogeny of tinamou feather lice, together with a broad diversity of other avian feather louse groups. In total, we analysed sequences from over 1000 genes for 48 genera of avian lice using both concatenated and coalescent approaches to estimate the phylogeny of this diverse group of avian feather lice. Although the body louse ecomorph of tinamou feather lice formed a monophyletic group, they did not strictly form a monophyletic group together with the other three ecomorphs of tinamou feather lice. In particular, a clade comprised of several feather louse genera, mainly from South America, is nested phylogenetically within tinamou lice, which also have their main centre of diversity in South America. These results suggest in situ radiation of these parasites in South America.

Electronic supplementary material is available online at https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.4840287.

}, keywords = {coevolution, genome sequencing, host{\textendash}parasite interactions, Phylogenomics}, issn = {0962-8452}, doi = {10.1098/rspb.2019.3005}, url = {https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rspb.2019.3005}, author = {Stephany Virrueta-Herrera and Andrew D. Sweet and Julie M. Allen and Kimberly K. O. Walden and Jason D. Weckstein and Kevin P. Johnson} } @article {94871, title = {Extensive host-switching of avian feather lice following the Cretaceous-Paleogene mass extinction event}, journal = {Communications Biology}, volume = {2}, year = {2019}, month = {11-2019}, pages = {6 pp}, type = {Open Access}, abstract = {

Nearly all lineages of birds host parasitic feather lice. Based on recent phylogenomic studies, the three major lineages of modern birds diverged from each other before the Cretaceous- Paleogene (K-Pg) mass extinction event. In contrast, studies of the phylogeny of feather lice on birds, indicate that these parasites diversified largely after this event. However, these studies were unable to reconstruct the ancestral avian host lineage for feather lice. Here we use genome sequences of a broad diversity of lice to reconstruct a phylogeny based on 1,075 genes. By comparing this louse evolutionary tree to the avian host tree, we show that feather lice began diversifying on the common ancestor of waterfowl and landfowl, then radiated onto other avian lineages by extensive host-switching. Dating analyses and cophylogenetic comparisons revealed that two of three lineages of birds that diverged before the K-Pg boundary acquired their feather lice after this event via host-switching.

Data availability

Data generated during this study are available through the Illinois Databank (https://doi.org/10.13012/B2IDB-0440388_V1)39. Raw read sequences are available in the NCBI SRA database (Supplementary Table 3).

}, keywords = {Feather lice, Galloanserae, Neoaves, Palaeognathae}, doi = {10.1038/s42003-019-0689-7}, url = {http://www.nature.com/articles/s42003-019-0689-7}, author = {Robert S. de_Moya and Julie M. Allen and Andrew D. Sweet and Kimberly K. O. Walden and Ricardo L. Palma and Vincent Stuart Smith and Stephen L. Cameron and Michel Paiva Valim and Terry D. Galloway and Jason D. Weckstein and Kevin P. Johnson} } @article {94785, title = {The evolution of host specificity in dove body lice}, journal = {Parasitology}, volume = {138}, year = {2011}, month = {11-2011}, pages = {1730 - 1736}, abstract = {

Objective: Conventional wisdom suggests that parasites evolve increased host specialization over time. Host specificity, which describes the number of host species parasitized, is one aspect of host specialization. Recent studies of vertebrate parasites indicate that highly host-specific parasite lineages are not, in fact, evolutionary dead ends; host generalists can evolve from host specialists.
Methods: Using phylogenetic reconstruction methods, we evaluate these patterns in the body lice (Insecta: Phthiraptera) of pigeons and doves, which are permanent ectoparasites that complete their entire life cycle on the body of the host.
Results: We find that species of body lice that parasitize more than one species of host (generalists) are invariably derived from lice parasitizing only one species of host (specialists). A previous study of the wing lice of pigeons and doves also found that generalists were derived from specialists, and that these changes were correlated with the presence of a potentially competing species of wing louse on the same host. For body lice we did not find such a correlation with competition. Instead, the evolution of host generalists in body lice was correlated with host ecology. When we compared body lice that parasitize terrestrial versus arboreal hosts, we found that the evolution of host generalists was associated with terrestrial hosts. In contrast, wing lice showed no correlation between the evolution of generalists and host ecology.
Conclusion: The correlation in body lice suggests that dispersal between host species may occur via the ground. This, in turn, suggests that body lice may fall to the ground more often than wing lice. To test this hypothesis, we conducted an experiment to compare the rate at which body and wing lice are dislodged from the bodies of preening pigeons. Interestingly, our results showed that body lice are dislodged four times more often than wing lice. Therefore, species of terrestrial doves are far more likely to encounter body lice than wing lice on the ground.

}, keywords = {co-evolution, parasites, specialization.}, issn = {0031-1820}, doi = {10.1017/S0031182010001770}, url = {https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0031182010001770/type/journal_article}, author = {Kevin P. Johnson and Jason D. Weckstein and Sarah E. Bush and Clayton,Dale H.} } @article {94672, title = {Two lineages of kingfisher feather lice exhibit differing degrees of cospeciation with their hosts}, journal = {Parasitology}, volume = {146}, year = {2019}, month = {July 2019}, pages = {1083 - 1095}, abstract = {

Unlike most bird species, individual kingfisher species (Aves: Alcedinidae) are typically para- sitized by only a single genus of louse (Alcedoffula, Alcedoecus, or Emersoniella). These louse genera are typically specific to a particular kingfisher subfamily. Specifically, Alcedoecus and Emersoniella parasitize Halcyoninae, whereas Alcedoffula parasitizes Alcedininae and Cerylinae. Although Emersoniella is geographically restricted to the Indo-Pacific region, Alcedoecus and Alcedoffula are geographically widespread. We used DNA sequences from two genes, the mitochondrial COI and nuclear EF-1\α genes, to infer phylogenies for the two geographically widespread genera of kingfisher lice, Alcedoffula and Alcedoecus. These phylogenies included 47 kingfisher lice sampled from 11 of the 19 currently recognized genera of kingfishers. We compared louse phylogenies to host phylogenies to reconstruct their cophy- logenetic history. Two distinct clades occur within Alcedoffula, one that infests Alcedininae and a second that infests Cerylinae. All species of Alcedoecus were found only on host species of the subfamily Halcyoninae. Cophylogenetic analysis indicated that Alcedoecus, as well as the clade of Alcedoffula occurring on Alcedininae, do not show evidence of cospeciation. In contrast, the clade of Alcedoffula occurring on Cerylinae showed strong evidence of cospeciation.

Supplementary materials link:\ https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/parasitology/article/two-lineages-of-kingfisher-feather-lice-exhibit-differing-degrees-of-cospeciation-with-their-hosts/411273CE9D2CE700E2AD2B3A11B63909$\#$fndtn-supplementary-materials

}, keywords = {Alcedininae, Biogeography, Cerylinae, cospeciation, Halcyoninae, lice, Phylogenetics}, issn = {0031-1820}, doi = {10.1017/S0031182019000453}, url = {https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0031182019000453/type/journal_article}, author = {Catanach, Therese A. and Kevin P. Johnson and Ben D. Marks and Moyle,R. G. and Michel Paiva Valim and Jason D. Weckstein} } @article {94467, title = {Composition and distribution of lice (Insecta: Phthiraptera) on Colombian and Peruvian birds: New data on louse-host association in the Neotropics}, journal = {Biodiversity Data Journal}, volume = {6}, year = {2018}, pages = {e21635}, abstract = {

The diversity of permanent ectoparasites is likely underestimated due to the difficulty of collecting samples. Lice (Insecta: Phthiraptera) are permanent ectoparasites of birds and mammals; there are approximately 5,000 species described and many more undescribed, particularly in the Neotropics. We document the louse genera collected from birds sampled in Peru (2006\–2007) and Colombia (2009\–2016), from 22 localities across a variety of ecosystems, ranging from lowland tropical forest and Llanos to high elevation cloud forest. We identified 35 louse genera from a total of 210 bird species belonging to 37 avian families and 13 orders. These genera belong to two suborders and three families of lice: Amblycera, families Menoponidae (present on 131 bird species) and Ricinidae (39 bird species); and Ischnocera, family Philopteridae (119 bird species). We compared our bird-louse associations with data in Price et al. (2003) and recently published Neotropical studies. The majority of bird-louse associations (51.9\%) were new, with most of these coming from Passeriformes, the most diverse avian order, with the most poorly known louse fauna. Finally, we found geographical variation in louse infestation and prevalence rates. With this study, we report the first comprehensive documentation of bird-louse associations for Colombia and substantially increase the known associations documented for Peru.

}, keywords = {ectoparasites, Feather lice, Tropical Forests}, issn = {1314-2836}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.3897/BDJ.6.e21635}, url = {https://bdj.pensoft.net/article/21635/}, author = {Juliana Soto-Pati{\~n}o and Gustavo A Londo{\~n}o and Kevin P. Johnson and Jason D. Weckstein and Jorge Enrique Avenda{\~n}o and Catanach, Therese A. and Andrew D. Sweet and Andrew T. Cook and Jill E. Jamkowski and Julie M. Allen} } @article {94437, title = {Host and parasite morphology influence congruence between host and parasite phylogenies}, journal = {International Journal for Parasitology}, volume = {48}, year = {2018}, month = {Jan-07-2018}, pages = {641 - 648}, abstract = {

Comparisons of host and parasite phylogenies often show varying degrees of phylogenetic congruence. However, few studies have rigorously explored the factors driving this variation. Multiple factors such as host or parasite morphology may govern the degree of phylogenetic congruence. An ideal analysis for understanding the factors correlated with congruence would focus on a diverse host\–parasite system for increased variation and statistical power. In this study, we focused on the Brueelia-complex, a diverse and widespread group of feather lice that primarily parasitise songbirds. We generated a molecular phy- logeny of the lice and compared this tree with a phylogeny of their avian hosts. We also tested for the contribution of each host\–parasite association to the overall congruence. The two trees overall were sig- nificantly congruent, but the contribution of individual associations to this congruence varied. To under- stand this variation, we developed a novel approach to test whether host, parasite or biogeographic factors were statistically associated with patterns of congruence. Both host plumage dimorphism and parasite ecomorphology were associated with patterns of congruence, whereas host body size, other plu- mage traits and biogeography were not. Our results lay the framework for future studies to further elu- cidate how these factors influence the process of host\–parasite coevolution.

}, keywords = {Avian lice, Brueelia complex, cophylogenetic analysis, cospeciation, Ectomorph, sexual dichromatism}, issn = {00207519}, doi = {10.1016/j.ijpara.2018.01.007}, url = {https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0020751918300596}, author = {Andrew D. Sweet and Sarah E. Bush and Daniel R Gustafsson and Julie M. Allen and DiBlasi, Emily and Skeen, Heather R. and Jason D. Weckstein and Kevin P. Johnson} } @article {94380, title = {Cophylogenetic analysis of lice in the Colpocephalum complex (Phthiraptera: Amblycera)}, journal = {Zoologica Scripta}, volume = {47}, year = {2018}, month = {Jan-01-2018}, pages = {72 - 83}, abstract = {

The chewing louse genus Colpocephalum parasitizes nearly a dozen distantly related orders of birds. Such a broad host distribution is relatively unusual in lice. However, the monophyly of the genus Colpocephalum has never been tested using molecular characters. Using one nuclear and one mitochondrial gene, we inferred a phylogeny for 54 lice from the genus Colpocephalum and other morphologically similar genera. The resulting phylogeny demonstrates that Colpocephalum itself is not monophyletic. However, these data support the existence of a Colpocephalum complex within which several lineages are restricted to particular host orders. These lineages corresponded to previously described genera, some of which are morphologically distinct and cur- rently considered subgenera. Maddison\–Slatkin tests were performed on the resulting phylogeny and showed that host order, host family and biogeographic region had sig- nificant phylogenetic signal when mapped onto the Colpocephalum complex phylog- eny. A PARAFIT analysis comparing the overall Colpocephalum complex phylogeny to a host phylogeny revealed significant congruence between host and parasite trees. We also compared the cophylogenetic history of Colpocephalum and their hosts to that of a second distantly related feather louse genus, Degeeriella, which also infests diurnal birds of prey. Using PARAFIT to identify individual host\–parasite links that contributed to overall congruence, there was no evidence of correlated cophylogenetic patterns between these two louse groups, suggesting that their host distribution pat- terns have been shaped by different evolutionary processes.

}, keywords = {avian chewing lice, Phylogenetics, systematics}, doi = {10.1111/zsc.12262}, url = {http://doi.wiley.com/10.1111/zsc.12262}, author = {Catanach, Therese A. and Michel Paiva Valim and Jason D. Weckstein and Kevin P. Johnson} } @article {68783, title = {A drop in the bucket of the megadiverse chewing louse genus Myrsidea (Phthiraptera, Amblycera, Menoponidae): ten new species from Amazonian Brazil}, journal = {Folia Parasitogica}, volume = {60}, year = {2013}, pages = {377-400}, abstract = {

Ten new species of Myrsidea Waterston, 1915 parasitic on members of the avian families Formicariidae, Thraupidae,\ Tyrannidae, Troglodytidae and Icteridae are described herein. They and their type hosts are M. isacantha sp. n. ex Chamaeza nobilis\ Gould, M. circumsternata sp. n. ex Formicarius colma Boddaert (Formicariidae); M. cacioppoi sp. n. ex Lanio fulvus (Boddaert),
M. brasiliensis sp. n. ex Tangara chilensis (Vigors), M. saviti sp. n. ex Tangara schrankii (Spix) (Thraupidae), M. rodriguesae sp. n.\ ex Cnipodectes subbrunneus (Sclater), M. cnemotriccola sp. n. ex Cnemotriccus fuscatus (Wied-Neuwied), M. lathrotriccola sp. n.\ ex Lathrotriccus euleri (Cabanis) (Tyrannidae), M. faccioae sp. n. ex Cyphorhinus arada transfluvialis (Todd) (Troglodytidae), and\ M. lampropsaricola sp. n. ex Lampropsar tanagrinus (Spix) (Icteridae). Among these are two new Myrsidea species described from\ the avian family Formicariidae, which previously had only a single described Myrsidea species, and a new host record for M. cinnamomei\ Dalgleish et Price, 2005 ex Attila citriniventris Sclater. Analysis of mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase I sequences for these\ and other neotropical Myrsidea species provides an assessment of their phylogenetic relationships and indicates that all of these\ newly described species are genetically distinct. We also put these descriptions into context by estimating the potential number of\ unnamed Myrsidea species in Brazil, given the known diversity of potential hosts and typical levels of host specificity for Myrsidea\ species. Our estimate indicates that Brazilian Myrsidea species diversity is likely more than an order of magnitude greater than the\ number of described Myrsidea species known from Brazil, highlighting the need for future work on this megadiverse ectoparasite\ genus.

}, keywords = {COI, morphology, Neotropical region, phylogenetic relationships, species diversity, taxonomy}, issn = {0015-5683 (print), 1803-6465 (online)}, url = {http://phthiraptera.info/sites/phthiraptera.info/files/68783.pdf}, author = {Michel Paiva Valim and Jason D. Weckstein} } @article {61619, title = {Two new species of Cotingacola Carriker, 1956 (Phthiraptera: Ischnocera: Philopteridae) from Amazonian Brazil, with comments on host-specificity}, journal = {Systematic Parasitology}, volume = {81}, year = {2012}, month = {3/2012}, pages = {159 - 167}, abstract = {

This paper describes two new species of Cotingacola Carriker, 1956, C. lutzae n. sp. and C. engeli n. sp., from the cinereous mourner Laniocera hypopyrra (Vieillot) and black-necked red cotinga Phoenicircus nigricollis Swainson (Aves: Passeriformes: Cotingidae), respectively. These species are fully illustrated and compared with their morphologically closest relatives. With the addition of these two new species, this Neotropical chewing louse genus now includes ten species. We also present records from Brazil for two previously described species, C. stotzi Clayton \& Price, 1998 and C. parmipapillae Carriker, 1956. The re-examination of a specimen identified as \‘Cotingacola sp.\’ in a recent phylogenetic study confirmed that it is C. parmipapillae and that Querula purpurata (Statius Mu\¨ller) regularly hosts two Cotingacola species, which means that at least three cotingid hosts carry more than one species of Cotingacola. We comment on the variability in the host-specificity of Cotingacola species.

}, issn = {1573-5192}, doi = {10.1007/s11230-011-9334-7}, url = {http://phthiraptera.info/sites/phthiraptera.info/files/61619.pdf}, author = {Michel Paiva Valim and Jason D. Weckstein} } @article {61618, title = {A New Genus and Species of Philopteridae (Phthiraptera: Ischnocera) from the Trumpeters (Aves: Gruiformes: Psophiidae)}, journal = {Journal of Parasitology}, volume = {98}, year = {2012}, month = {08/2012}, pages = {728 - 734}, abstract = {

A new chewing louse genus and species belonging to the Philopteridae, namely, Palmaellus inexpectatus n. gen., n. sp., is described. The new genus is distinguished from the other ischnoceran genera hitherto described by its peculiar characters of the dorsal anterior head plate with 2 postero-lateral projections, pterothorax and abdomen with scarce chaetotaxy, male genitalia with simple mesomere and paramere lacking inner digitiform projection, and the genital region of female with postero-vulvar plates bearing setae. It is a parasite of the trumpeters, an avian family endemic to South America\’s Amazon Basin.

}, keywords = {new genera, new species, Palmaellus inexpectatus}, issn = {1937-2345}, doi = {10.1645/GE-3055.1}, url = {http://phthiraptera.info/sites/phthiraptera.info/files/61618.pdf}, author = {Michel Paiva Valim and Jason D. Weckstein} } @article {61617, title = {Two new species of Brueelia K{\'e}ler, 1936 (Ischnocera, Philopteridae) parasitic on Neotropical trogons (Aves, Trogoniformes)}, journal = {ZooKeys}, volume = {128}, year = {2011}, month = {09/2011}, pages = {1-13}, abstract = {Two new species of Brueelia are described and illustrated. These new species and their type hosts are: Brueelia sueta ex Pharomachrus pavoninus (Spix, 1824), the Pavonine Quetzal and Brueelia cicchinoi ex Trogon viridis Linnaeus, the White-tailed Trogon. Both new species differ from the only Brueelia described on Trogon mexicanus by many morphological features, including those present in the male genitalia and female vulvar margin. Partial sequences of the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase I (COI) gene for these two new species differ from one another by 13.6\% uncorrected p-distance. Whereas B. cicchinoi is only 0.3\% divergent from previously published COI sequences identified as Brueelia sp. from the Mexican T. melanocephalus Gould, 1936 and T. massena Gould, 1938. We also found B. cicchinoi on T. melanurus, T. collaris and Pharomachrus pavoninus. Thus B. cicchinoi is found on multiple trogoniform hosts across an extremely large geographic distribution and has one of the largest number of host associations among Brueelia species.}, issn = {1313-2989}, doi = {10.3897/zookeys.128.1583}, url = {http://phthiraptera.info/sites/phthiraptera.info/files/61617.pdf}, author = {Michel Paiva Valim and Jason D. Weckstein} }