Parallel evolution, cladistics, and classification of parasitic Psocodea

We recognized the three orders of Psocodea in 1978: Psocoptera, Mallophaga, and Anoplura. Objecting to our view, Haub (1980) maintained, without any new evidence, that all parasitic Psocodea constitute the order Phthiraptera, within which the Anoplura are placed as a suborder. We have re-examined the phylogenetic relationships and taxonomic rankings of parasitic Psocodea with new data and procedural precision. All the taxonomic characters previously considered by Haub, Kim and Ludwig, and others are re-evaluated, and new characters discussed and added to the cladistic analyses. Five cladistic hypotheses are critically tested, and the most parsimonious cladogram is accepted as the basis for the classification of Psocodea. The classification is constructed from the phylogram by using subordination and phyletic sequencing. The phylogram is developed by revamping the accepted cladogram with other autopomorphous and plesiomorphous characters not used in searching and testing the nested pattern of synapomorphy. Diagnosis is made directly from the phylogram for each of the psocodean taxa recognized in the classification. In summary, our view is reaffirmed that the Anoplura are distinct from the Amblycera, Ischnocera, and Rhynchophthirina (order Mallophaga) and should be treated as a separate order.