Guimaraesiella (Cicchinella) petilorica Gustafsson & Tian & Ren & Liu & Yu & Zou 2021, new species

Guimaraesiella (Cicchinella) petilorica new species

(Figs 21–27)

Type host: Alcippe nipalensis nipalensis (Hodgson, 1837) – Nepal fulvetta (Leiothrichidae) [see Remarks].

Type locality: Wudian Village, Huyu Township, Ruili City, Dehong Prefecture, Yunnan Province, China.

Diagnosis. Guimaraesiella (Cicchinella) petilorica keys out to couplet 4 in the key of Gustafsson et al. (2019a), but contains a combination of characters that precludes further identification. These characters place G. (C.) petilorica near G. (C.) mcgrewi Gustafsson et al., 2019a and G. (C.) iuga Gustafsson et al., 2019a. However, Guimaraesiella (Cicchinella) petilorica can be separated from G. (C.) mcgrewi by the following characters: female tergopleurites IX+X and XI separate in G. (C.) petilorica (Fig. 22), but fused in G. (C.) mcgrewi; preantennal head proportionately longer in G. (C.) petilorica (Fig. 23) than in G. (C.) mcgrewi; antennae sexually monomorphic in G. (C.) petilorica (Fig. 23), but sexually dimorphic with scape longer in male than in female in G. (C.) mcgrewi; proximal mesosome widening proximally and with simple, unadorned ventral side in G. (C.) mcgrewi, but smaller, rounded, and with complex thickenings on ventral side in G. (C.) petilorica (Fig. 26); mesosomal lobes more pointedly convergent distally, and with more pronounced hook-shaped thickening in anterior end in G. (C.) petilorica (Fig. 26) than in G. (C.) mcgrewi; gonopore small, with lateral extensions in G. (C.) mcgrewi, but much larger, without such extensions in G. (C.) petilorica (Fig. 26).

Guimaraesiella (Cicchinella) petilorica can be separated from G. (C.) iuga by the following characters: female abdominal segments IV–VI with 3 ps on each side in G. (C.) iuga, but with 2 ps on each side in G. (C.) petilorica (Fig. 22); male tergopleurite VIII with 2 tps on each side in G. (C.) petilorica (Fig. 21), but with 1 tps on each side in G. (C.) iuga; dorsal preantennal suture reaches lateral margin of head in G. (C.) petilorica (Fig. 23), but not in G. (C.) iuga; proximal mesosome large, expanding proximally, in G. (C.) iuga, but small, rounded in G. (C.) petilorica (Fig. 24); patterns of thickenings and nodi on ventral side of mesosome differ between these two species (Fig. 26); gonopore broad, with anterior and posterior extensions in G. (C.) iuga, but more narrow, and without structures clearly identical to these extensions in G. (C.) petilorica.

Description. Both sexes. Head trapezoidal (Fig. 23), lateral margins of preantennal area almost straight, frons concave. Dorsal preantennal suture reaches ads, dsms and lateral margin of head. Marginal carina broad, of roughly equal width throughout; preantennal nodi large, bulging. Head chaetotaxy as in Fig. 23. Antennae sexually monomorphic. Preocular nodi larger than postocular nodi. Marginal temporal carina slender, of more or less equal width throughout. Gular plate with median point, rather short. Thoracic and abdominal segments and chaetotaxy as in Figs 21–22. Measurements as in Table 1.

Male. Genitalia with basal apodeme relatively wide, with straight or only slightly concave lateral margins (Fig. 24). Mesosome seemingly not overlapping with basal apodeme; proximal mesosome small and rounded; dorsal thickenings prominent. Mesosomal lobes roughly triangular, converging to pointed distal end (Fig. 26), in anterior end with inwardly curved thickenings; rugose nodi present at about mid-length of lobes, but rugosity restricted to lateral margins of nodes; lpmes situated on lateral margin as in Fig. 26. Gonopore slender, with gpmes sensilla situated on small, rounded nodes lateral to distal gonopore. Anterior to the gonopore, there are folded or thickened sections of uncertain morphology, possibly similar to those seen in G. (C.) corrugata (Figs 7, 11); these features are unclear and variable, and here illustrated approximately. Parameral heads slanted with anterior bulge (Fig. 25). Parameral blades broad, seemingly tapering abruptly in distal end; however, distal paramere folded anteriorly in all examined males, and here illustrated approximately; pst1–2 as in Fig. 24.

Female. Subgenital plate small, rounded (Fig. 27), with slender connection to cross-piece. Distal margin of cross-piece with less intense sclerotisation than proximal section, delimited by a grey line in Fig. 27. Vulval margin more or less gently rounded, with 3–4 short, slender vms and 6–8 short, thorn-like vss on each side; 4–5 short, slender vos on each side of subgenital plate; distal 1–2 vos median to vss.

Etymology. The species epithet is formed by “ petilus ”, Latin for “slender”, and “lorica ”, Latin for “cuirass” or “corselet”, here referring to the connection between the female subgenital plate and the cross-piece, which is narrower in G. (Cicchinella) petilorica than in most other species of G. (Cicchinella).

Type material. Ex Alcippe nipalensis nipalensis: Holotype ♂, Wudian Village, Huyu Township, Ruili City, Dehong Prefecture, Yunnan Province, China, 7 Jan. 2013, Yuchun Wu & Yanhua Zhang, bird ID J0654 GD-PHTH-00470 (IZGAS). Paratypes: 1♀, Banyan King, Daonong Village, Nabang Township, Yingjiang County, Dehong Prefecture, Yunnan Province, China, 27 Dec. 2012, Yuchun Wu & Yanhua Zhang, bird ID J0525, GD-PHTH-00472 (IZGAS). 2♀, same locality and collectors, 28 Dec. 2012, bird ID J0537, GD-PHTH-00474–475 (IZGAS). 1♀, same locality and collectors, 30 Dec. 2012, bird ID J0574, GD-PHTH-00476 (IZGAS). 2♀, same locality and collectors, 27 May 2013, bird ID J1391, GD-PHTH-00479–480 (IZGAS). 1♀, same data as previous, except bird ID J1392, GD- PHTH-00481 (IZGAS).

Remarks. The name of the Alcippe species occurring where lice were collected differs among different sources (e.g. Arlott 2017; Zheng 2017; Clements et al. 2019; Liu & Chen 2021; Gill et al. 2021). No additional data from the hosts examined (e.g. feathers, photos, DNA) are available to confirm their identity, and none of the authors were present when the type material of G. (Cicchinella) petilorica was collected. Therefore, we accept the name of the type host as Alcippe nipalensis nipalensis, noting that further collections are necessary to confirm it.