Ischnoceran Lice Research Articles

Separation of Goniocotes Burmeister, 1838, and Dictyocotes Kéler, 1940 (Phthiraptera: Ischnocera), with descriptions of four new species

The ischnoceran louse genus Dictyocotes Kéler, 1940, has long been considered a synonym of Goniocotes Burmeister, 1838, but the genus has never been revised. Here, the relationships within and between Goniocotes and Dictyocotes are discussed, and the latter genus is resurrected from synonymy. Both genera are redescribed, and four new species of lice are described and illustrated. They are: Dictyocotes furcatus sp. nov. ex Lophophorus lhuysii Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1866; Goniocotes cacumentalis sp. nov. ex Tetraogallus tibetanus Gould, 1854; Goniocotes caoi sp. nov. ex Chrysolophus pictus (Linnaeus, 1758); Goniocotes sarissa sp. nov. ex Tragopan caboti (Gould, 1857). The altitudinal distribution of these two genera is discussed, and appears to indicate a division between a primarily low-altitude Goniocotes and an exclusively high-altitude Dictyocotes. The driving force behind this division is unknown, but unlikely to be based on host associations.

MORPHOLOGIC CHARACTERS OF AN ISCHNOCERAN LOUSE, Goniodes dissimilis (DENNY, 1842) (INSECTA: PTHIRAPTERA: ISCHNOCERA) USING SCANNING ELECTRON MICROSCOPY

In this paper, the morphological characters of an ischnoceran louse, Goniodes dissimilis (Denny, 1842) infesting Domestic fowl, Gallus gallus domesticus (Linnaeus, 1758) was studied through Scanning Electron Microscope. In Odisha, G. dissimilis was discovered for the first time on Gallus gallus domesticus. The study indicated that the taxonomic studies on the phthirapteran fauna of G. g. domesticus deserved further investigation.

Chewing lice of passerine birds in reed beds in Slovakia, with a special focus on Panurus biarmicus.

A total of 1185 passerine birds representing five species were examined for chewing lice in reed beds in southwestern Slovakia in spring (April) 2008, 2009 and 2016. Additional collecting focused only on chewing lice from Panurus biarmicus (Linnaeus, 1758) (Passeriformes: Panuridae) was carried out in spring (April), summer (July) and autumn (October) 2019. A total of 283 (24%) birds were parasitized by 10 species of chewing lice of four genera: Penenirmus, Menacanthus, Philopterus, and Brueelia. Most birds showed only very light (1-10 lice/host; 74%) to light infestations (11-20 lice/host; 16%). The authors found significantly higher prevalences and mean abundances of chewing lice on residents/short-distance migrants, that is, P. biarmicus, Acrocephalus melanopogon (Temminck, 1823) (Passeriformes: Acrocephalidae), than on long-distance migratory birds, that is, Acrocephalus scirpaceus (Hermann, 1804), Acrocephalus schoenobaenus (Linnaeus, 1758) (Passeriformes: Acrocephalidae), Locustella luscinioides (Savi, 1824) (Passeriformes: Locustellidae). No significant difference was found in the total mean intensity of chewing lice between these two groups of birds. Ischnoceran lice were more prevalent and abundant than amblyceran lice on residents and short-distance migrants, whereas the opposite was found on bird species that migrate long distances. A total of 146 (58%, n=251) P. biarmicus were parasitized by 1490 chewing lice. Males of P. biarmicus showed higher prevalence and mean abundance than females with gradually descending values of prevalence, mean abundance and mean intensity from spring to autumn. The knowledge of the occurrence and population dynamics of lice on wild passerine birds can be useful in endangered species conservation programs and can also be applied to captive passerine birds, which may be analogous to resident birds in this sense.

Light and scanning electron microscopy of an ischnoceran louse, Felicola rohani, and an amblyceran louse, Heterodoxus spiniger (Phthiraptera: Insecta) from the Indian grey mongoose, Herpestes edwardsii.

The ischnoceran louse, Felicola rohani Werneck, 1956 is reported for the first time from India on the Indian grey mongoose - Herpestes edwardsii (Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1818) and the amblyceran louse, Heterodoxus spiniger (Enderlein, 1909) is recorded for the first time from that host species. The lice were collected from freshly accidentally killed specimen of the host, preserved and kept at the Museum of Estuarine Biology Regional Centre, Zoological Survey of India, Gopalpur-on-sea, Ganjam Odisha. Detailed morphological descriptions of the lice, based on light and scanning electron microscopy, are presented in this paper.

Intrinsic rate of natural increase of an isochnoceran louse Goniocotes jirufti (Ansari, 1947) (Phthiraptera: Insecta)

The ischnoceran lice, Goniocotes jirufti (Ansari, 1947) infesting the black partridge, Francolinus francolinus were reared in vitro condition (35 ± 1°C, 75-82% RH, at feather diet), to record the incubation period, adult longevity and daily egg rate. The data obtained from in vitro experimentation were used to construct the life table and to determine the intrinsic rate of natural increase (rm). The value of rm of aforesaid species was computed as 0.042. At this rate the doubling time of its population appeared to be 16.50 days. In comparison to the other species studied so far, G. jirufti seems to breed moderately.

Egg laying pattern and the egg morphology of an ischnoceran louse, Goniocotes jirufti (Ansari, 1947) parasitizing black partridges, Francolinus francolinus (Phthiraptera: Ischnocera)

The present report furnishes information on the egg laying sites, the pattern of egg laying and the nature of egg shells of an ischnoceran louse Goniocotes jirufti parasitizing black partridges, Francolinus francolinus. The louse prefers to lay eggs on the feathers belonging to back and breast region of the host. The eggs are laid on lateral plumulacious portion of the vane. The egg shell is ovoid in shape and the egg chorion is free from sculpturing and apophyses.

Different Coevolutionary Breeding Strategies of Ischnoceran Lice onPrunella collarisandP. modularisin High Mountains

ABSTRACT Alpine accentors (Prunella collaris) and dunnocks (P. modularis) are closely related species of Prunellidae, which often breed in polygynandrous groups and have specific types of mating behaviour. The alpine accentor lives at high altitudes, in an extreme alpine environment; the dunnock is widely dispersed from lowland to tree line in the mountains. Both species are hosts of the related species of wing lice Philoptersus emiliae and Ph. modularis, respectively. Behavioural differences between these two host species may have resulted in different breeding and seasonal adaptations by their parasites. The main goal of this paper was to test this hypothesis. Sixty five alpine accentors Prunella collaris (Scopoli, 1769) and eighty four dunnocks Prunella modularis (Linnaeus, 1758) were examined for Ischnocera lice in the West Carpathians, Slovakia from 1988 to 2001, and from 2007 to 2010, respectively. Birds were found to be infested with two species of Ischnoceran lice: the parasite species are not com...

Population levels of phthirapteran ectoparasites on the goats in Rampur (U.P.).

Out of the four phthirapteran species known to occur, only two were recovered from the goats in district Rampur (ischnoceran louse, Bovicola caprae and the anopluran, Linognathus africanus). As many as, 26.5% (n=250) of the goats examined were found infested with Phthiraptera. The prevalence on two sexes of goats remained similar (X2=0.013, P<0.05). However, lice were more prevalent on younger goats than adults and older ones (X2=9.78, P<0.05). The correlation between the prevalence and mean monthly temperature of Phthiraptera was found significant. On the other hand correlation between prevalence and humidity was found insignificant. As many as, 74.5% of the infested goats carried both the species while 25.4% exhibited single species infestation. The ischnoceran louse, B. caprae was comparatively more prevalent (18.4%) than the anopluran L. africanus (11.2%). The mean intensity (mean number of lice counted per square inch, at 20 anatomical sites) of B. caprae was comparatively higher than that of L. africanus. As far as, the population composition is concerned the females outnumbered the males in natural population. On the other hands, nymphs dominated over adults in natural population.

Population increase of poultry wing louse, Lipeurus caponis in vivo condition

Studies regarding the rate of population increase of poultry wing louse Lipeurus caponis in vivo condition revealed that initial inoculums of 10 L. caponis could produce an average of 318 lice after 90 days in summer (indicating the doubling time to be 18 days) and during winter months it produced 336 lice (the doubling time 22 days). Thus, studies clearly indicated that ischnoceran lice (e.g. L. caponis) multiplied population at moderate rate. Summer months are more favorable for population build up of lice.

Population characteristics of black kite lice.

A look on literature revealed that the population characteristics of Phthiraptera infesting Black Kite, Milvus migrans Boddaert deserved investigation. Thirty-two kites were sampled in district Rampur (U.P.) India during January 2011-December 2012, for the presence of phthirapteran ectoparasites. Two amblyceran species, Laemobothrion maximum Scopoli and Colpocephalum turbinatum Denny and one ischnoceran louse, Degeeriella regalis Giebel were recovered. The prevalence, intensity of infestation, sample mean abundance, range of infestation, sex ratios, and adult nymph ratios of three lice were recorded. C. turbinatum ranked first in the order of prevalence and intensity of infestation, followed by D. regalis. The prevalence and intensity of L. maximum was quite low.

An Annotated Checklist of Amblyceran Chewing Lice (Phthiraptera: Amblycera) from Wild Passerine Birds (Passeriformes) in South Africa

A total of 778 individuals of 150 bird species were examined: 123 (16 %) individuals of 40 non-passerine bird species belonging to 16 orders; and 655 (84 %) individuals of 110 passerine bird species (Passeriformes) belonging to 28 families. A total of 2041 chewing lice belonging to nine genera were found on passerine birds. Amblyceran lice were less frequent than ischnoceran lice (32.8 % vs 67.2 %, n = 2041). A total of 670 amblyceran lice (mean intensity = 5.0) were found on 133 passerine birds (20.3 %) of 43 species. The dominant amblyceran genus was Menacanthus with a dominance of 59.3 %, while the other two genera were less frequent: Myrsidea (36.9 %) and Ricinus (3.9 % ). A total of 50 amblyceran louse-host associations were recorded. An equal overall sex ratio as well as age ratio was found among the collected lice. An updated checklist of the species of amblyceran lice from passerine birds from South Africa is included and discussed. Two families, five genera and 32 species of lice are listed from 42 passerine bird hosts.

Three new species of chewing lice of the genus Emersoniella Tendeiro, 1965 (Insecta: Phthiraptera: Ischnocera: Philopteridae) from Papua New Guinean kingfishers and kookaburras (Aves: Coraciiformes: Alcedinidae).

Three new species of the ischnoceran louse genus Emersoniella (Phthiraptera) are described from four species of New Guinean kingfishers and kookaburras (Coraciiformes: Alcedinidae: Halcyoninae). They are: Emersoniella crassicarina n. sp. ex Dacelo gaudichaud Quoy & Gaimard (rufous-bellied kookaburra) and Dacelo leachii intermedia Salvadori (blue-winged kookaburra); E. reninoda n. sp. ex Melidora macrorrhina macrorhina Lesson (hook-billed kingfisher); and E. persei n. sp. ex Tanysiptera danae Sharpe (brown-headed paradise-kingfisher). In addition, we illustrate Emersoniella regis Emerson & Price, Emersoniella halcyonis Tendeiro, and the male genitalia of Emersoniella galateae Emerson & Price, as well as provide a complete host-louse checklist, and an updated key to all seven species of this genus.

AVIAN BROOD PARASITISM AND ECTOPARASITE RICHNESS-SCALE-DEPENDENT DIVERSITY INTERACTIONS IN A THREE-LEVEL HOST-PARASITE SYSTEM

Brood parasitic birds, their foster species and their ectoparasites form a complex coevolving system composed of three hierarchical levels. However, effects of hosts' brood parasitic life-style on the evolution of their louse (Phthiraptera: Amblycera, Ischnocera) lineages have never been tested. We present two phylogenetic analyses of ectoparasite richness of brood parasitic clades. Our hypothesis was that brood parasitic life-style affects louse richness negatively across all avian clades due to the lack of vertical transmission routes. Then, narrowing our scope to brood parasitic cuckoos, we explored macroevolutionary factors responsible for the variability of their louse richness. Our results show that taxonomic richness of lice is lower on brood parasitic clades than on their nonparasitic sister clades. However, we found a positive covariation between the richness of cuckoos' Ischnoceran lice and the number of their foster species, possibly due to the complex and dynamic subpopulation structure of cuckoo species that utilize several host species. We documented diversity interactions across a three-level host parasite system and we found evidence that brood parasitism has opposing effects on louse richness at two slightly differing macroevolutionary scales, namely the species richness and the genera richness.

In vitro biology of Columbicola bacillus (Phthiraptera: Ischnocera)

An ischnoceran louse, Columbicola bacillus infesting Ring dove, Streptopelia decaocto was subjected to in vitro experimentation. The data obtained through in vitro experimentation was utilized to construct the life table and to determine its intrinsic rate of natural increase (rm). The value of rm appeared to be 0.054. At this rate, the population of C. bacillus is supposed to be double after 12.95 days, indicating that it is moderate breeder.

Egg Laying Site and Oviposition Pattern of Two Phthirapteran Species Parasitizing Red Whiskered Bulbul (Pycnonotus jocosus)

Present study was performed to record the oviposition and egg laying pattern of two phthirapteran species infesting red whiskered Bulbul. The number of egg laid by each species on different parts of body was recorded by direct observation under stereozoom binocular microscope. Feathers bearing egg were subjected to SEM to observe the pattern of egg laying. The maximum percentage of egg of the ischnoceran louse, Brueelia guldum were recorded on feather of back region, followed by neck and breast. The amblyceran louse, Menacanthus eurysternus prefers to lay eggs mainly on neck, head and nape feathers. The ischnoceran louse, Brueelia guldum exhibits widespread oviposition sites while amblyceran louse, Menacanthus eurysternus shows restricted oviposition sites on the host body.

Clever birds are lousy: Co-variation between avian innovation and the taxonomic richness of their amblyceran lice

Lice (Insecta: Phthiraptera) are ectoparasites that reduce host life expectancy and sexual attractiveness. Their taxonomic richness varies considerably among their hosts. Previous studies have already explored some important factors shaping louse diversity. An unexplored potential correlate of louse taxonomic richness is host behavioural flexibility. In this comparative study, we examine the relationship between louse generic richness, innovative capabilities (as a proxy for behavioural flexibility), and brain size while controlling for host species diversity, phylogeny, body size and research effort. Using data for 108 avian families, we found a highly significant positive relationship between host innovative capabilities and the taxonomic richness of amblyceran lice, but a lack of a similar relationship in ischnoceran lice. Host brain size had only a marginal impact on amblyceran diversity and no correlation with ischnoceran diversity. This suggests that the effect in Amblycera is not mediated by metabolic limitations due to the energetic costs of brain size and maintenance, rather directly caused by the ecological differences between hosts with differing cognitive capabilities. We propose four alternative and mutually non-exclusive hypotheses that may explain this phenomenon.

Population characteristics of Brueelia sp. on certain Indian Finches

Five kinds of finches were examined during 2004-06. Two kinds of finches were found infested with ischnoceran lice, Brueelia sp. (Prevalence-20.5%, mean intensity of infestation-4.7 and range of infestation, 1-23). The frequency distribution pattern of Brueelia sp. on Indian finches conformed to the negative binomial model. Sex ratio was skewed in favour of females and adults outnumbered the nymphs in natural population.

Population ecology of a phthirapteran occurring on the common Baya (Ploceus philippinus) (Ploceidae: Passeriformes: Aves)

One hundred common Bayas (Ploceus philippinus) were examined for their ectoparasites, during April 2006 to December 2008 in the Rampur district of India (28°49'12"N 79°1'11"E). Seventy-four animals were found infested (mean intensity 13.97, sample mean abundance 10.3, range of infestation 1-45) with an ischnoceran louse, Brueelia plocea. The frequency distribution pattern of the louse on the aforesaid bird was aggregated but did not conform to the negative binomial model. The sex ratio was female biased while the nymphal population was dominant over adults.

The Chewing Lice (Phthiraptera) of Red-Billed Quelea (Quelea quelea) in Senegal, with a Description of a New Species

One hundred and six individuals of red-billed quelea (Quelea quelea) were examined for chewing lice (Phthiraptera: Amblycera, Ischnocera) in Senegal. Chewing lice were found on 91 (86 %) birds examined. Three species of chewing lice were identified; they had the following prevalences and mean intensities: Brueelia queleae n. sp. (81 %; 5.3 lice), Myrsidea queleae (37 %; 1.7) and Machaerilaemus plocei (9 %; 1.7). These are the first records of chewing lice from red-billed quelea from Senegal. A new species of Brueelia is described and illustrated. This is the first ischnoceran louse described from this host.

Intrinsic Rate of Natural Increase of Five Species of Ischnoceran Lice (Insecta: Phthiraptera) from India

ABSTRACT: Five ischnoceran lice (Brueelia cyclothorax, Sturnidoecus hannoo, Neopsittaconirmus elbeli, Columbicola columbae and Anaticola crassicornis) infesting the house sparrow, common myna, Indian parakeet, domestic pigeon and mallard duck, were reared in vitro conditions (35 ± 1°C, 75–82% RH, at a feather diet), to record the incubation period, adult longevity and daily egg rate. The data obtained were used to construct the life table and to determine the intrinsic rate of natural increase (r). The values of r of aforesaid species were 0.032, 0.049, 0.050, 0.053 and 0.074 female per day, respectively. Likewise, the doubling time of the population differed, as follows, 21.35, 14.21, 13.93, 14.2 and 9.01 days, respectively. The results indicate that reproductive potentials of different phthirapteran species exhibit considerable variation.