Mallophaga of the domestic chicken in the central region of Saudi Arabia.

From November 1986 to June 1987, a survey of mallophagan lice on chickens, White Leghorn and Saudian Baladi breeds, was conducted on 60 poultry farms in the Al-Kharj and Riyadh areas of central Saudi Arabia. Menacanthus pallidulus, M. cornutus [Gallacanthus cornutus], M. stramineus, Goniodes dissimilis, Goniocotes gallinae, Menopon gallinae and Amyrsidea sp. were detected. The first 5 species were new records of Mallophaga on domestic chickens in Saudi Arabia, and the Amyrsidea sp. is considered to be the first known to be recorded from domestic chicken, possibly a new species.