A new Ornithophila (Diptera: Hippoboscidae) species from Baikal State Nature Reserve (Russia)

Abstract

The parasitic family Hippoboscidae is distributed around the world and currently includes more than 200 species. These insects are of high veterinary importance both as carriers of dangerous diseases and as transport for other groups of parasites. The genus Ornithophila is one of the smallest genera among Hippoboscidae. Currently, the genus Ornithophila includes only two species, namely Ornithophila gestroi and O. metallica. These species are full-winged, widely specialised parasites on birds that inhabit the tropics and subtropics of Asia, Africa, Europe, and Central Asia, including Russia and Kazakhstan. During the annual bird ringing in the Baikal State Nature Reserve (Russia), a new Ornithophila (Diptera: Hippoboscidae) species (Ornithophila baikalica sp. nov.) was collected and described. Ornithophila baikalica sp. nov. was found on Arundinax aedon, a bird that breeds in the south of Siberia and the Far East and migrates in winter to Southeast Asia, and sometimes to Egypt, Bhutan, Japan, and Malaysia. Ornithophila baikalica sp. nov. differs from the two other known species of the genus by reducing of tergites 3–5 of the female abdomen to the size of points and in the number of prescutellar setae, namely one long dark seta and several short light seta. Additionally, O. baikalica differs from O. metallica by the wing microtrichia, on which wings they are present, and by the smaller body size, body colour and wing length from O. gestroi. A new key for all three known Ornithophila species is composed.