Lice of the genus Philopterus Nitzsch (Phthiraptera: Ischnocera: Philopteridae) parasitic on hosts of the genus Emberiza (Passeriformes: Emberizidae)

Abstract

All species of the louse genus Philopterus described from hosts in the passerine genus Emberiza have been reviewed and compared with the earliest described and valid species: P. citrinellae. A redescription of P. citrinellae is given, supported by measurements and illustrations of pertinent features. Nine new junior synonymies of P. citrinellae are proposed and discussed. The new synonyms and their respective type hosts are: Philopterus zohrae Ansari, 1955 from Emberiza bruniceps; Penenirmus blagoveshtchenskyi Touleshkov, 1961 from Emberiza calandra; Docophorulus cumulatus Złotorzycka, 1964 from Emberiza calandra calandra; Docophorulus residuus Złotorzycka, 1964 from Emberiza schoeniclus schoeniclus; Philopterus indefinitus Fedorenko & Volkov, 1980 from Emberiza spodo‐cephala; Philopterus topicalis Fedorenko & Volkov, 1980 from Emberiza elegans; Philopterus parvulus Fedorenko & Volkov, 1980 from Emberiza rutila; Philopterus sibiricus Fedorenko & Volkov, 1980 from Emberiza leucocephalos; and Philopterus fron‐tosus Fedorenko, 1985 from Emberiza aureola. In addition, four new host records for P. citrinellae are included.