Notes on the descriptions of some Philopterus species (Insecta, Phthiraptera, Ischnocera, Philopteridae s. l.) of Reed warblers (Acrocephalidae), Kinglets (Regulidae) and Tits (Paridae): a response

In their study on "New records of Philopterus …" Najer et al. (2020) complain that they could not make certain taxonomic decisions with sufficient certainty due to a lack of comparative material. They emphatically claim that they were deprived of access to type materials needed for this purpose. This is not true, and tends toward an infringement of ethical standards. In the critical review of their findings presented here, among other things, it is established and justified: 1. The female of Philopterus acrocephalus Carriker, 1949, collected from Acrocephalus l. luscinius † on Guam Island (Marianas, Pacific) is most likely a straggler from another songbird species. 2. To synonymise all Philopterus forms (3 spp.) described so far from Acro-cephalus with Philopterus acrocephalus is impossible. 3. The detailed "redescription of P. acrocephalus" based on material from Acrocephalus melanopogon most likely refers to another, unnamed species. 4. An exact re-description of the holotype of P. acrocephalus is imperative. 5. Instead of declaring Philopterus reguli Denny, 1842 an "invalid name" (but the name is legitimate), it is actually a nomen dubium. 6. The only preserved Philopterus individual (originally of several) in the historical collection of H. Denny, which is said to come from Regulus regulus, but according to Najer et al. (2020) is definitely not conspecific with P. reguli 154 Denny, is most likely the result of an "error". 7. A neo-type is designated for "Philopterus (Docophorus) regu-li Denny, 1842" ex Regulus r. regulus. 8. Philopterus gustafssoni Najer et al., 2020 ex Regulus r. regulus is considered a junior subjective synonym of Philopterus reguli Denny, 1842. 9. The presence of more than one macrochaete on each side of the pronotum connects P. reguli with the Philopterus forms living on some tits (Paridae), to form the reguli species group. After reading the comments of NajEr et al. (2020), it is difficult to avoid the impression that, in addition to disregarding ethical conventions, they did not rise to the taxonomic and nomenclatural challenges of their topic.

This is a response to Najer et al (2020) New records of Philopterus (Ischnocera: Philopteridae) from Acrocephalidae and Locustellidae, with description of one new species from Regulidae, European Journal of Taxonomy 632: 1-37. https://europeanjournaloftaxonomy.eu/index.php/ejt/article/view/911 or http://phthiraptera.info/node/94995