Myrsidea pittendrighi Price, Johnson

Myrsidea pittendrighi Price, Johnson, and Dalgleish, new species

(Figs. 12–13)

Type host. Saltator striatipectus Lafresnaye, 1847, the Streaked Saltator.

Female. Head with strongly developed hypopharyngeal sclerites; gula with 5, less often 4, setae on each side. Dorsoventral metathorax and abdomen as in Fig. 12. Metanotal posterior margin with 11–12 setae; metasternal plate with 6 setae. Tergites I-III only slightly enlarged with II-IV having very small medioposterior convexity. Tergal setae, except on I, with continuous row across segment. Tergal setae: I, 8; II, 18–23; III, 26–31; IV, 31–33; V, 30; VI, 26–27; VII, 25–26; VIII, 17–19. Postspiracular setae on I, III, V, and VI not>0.20 long, and on VII 0.25 long, much shorter than extremely long setae on VIII. Pleurites: I with relatively uniform short setae; II-VII with fine longer setae toward midline; VIII with long seta flanked on each side by much shorter seta. Sternal setae: II, 4 in each aster, 15–16 marginal between asters, 14–15 anterior; III, 23–26; IV, 32–33; V, 34–35; VI, 27–29; VII, 17; VIII–IX, 19. Anus with 30–34 ventral, 31–34 dorsal fringe setae. Dimensions: TW, 0.43–0.45; HL, 0.30–0.31; PW, 0.29; MW, 0.43; AWIV, 0.53–0.56; ANW, 0.20–0.21; TL, 1.46–1.48.

Male. Head, thorax, absence of median gap in abdominal tergal setal rows, lengths of postspiracular setae, and chaetotaxy of abdominal pleurites as for female (Fig. 13), except for 12 marginal metanotal setae and continuous row of tergal setae on I. Tergal setae: I, 17; II, 29; III–IV, 32–33; V, 37; VI, 30; VII, 27; VIII, 23. Sternal setae: II, 4 in each aster, 15 marginal between asters, 12 anterior; III, 25; IV, 27; V, 31; VI, 28; VII, 21; VIII, 9. Genital sac sclerite as for M. lightae (Fig. 3). Dimensions: TW, 0.39; HL, 0.28; PW, 0.27; MW, 0.35; AWIV, 0.45; GL, 0.40; TL, 1.22.

Type material. Holotype female (to INHS), ex S. striatipectus, PANAMA: Serriana del Maje, 16 Feb. 2006, JMD 690, K.P. Johnson. Paratypes (to INHS): 1 female, 1 male, same data as holotype.

Remarks. This is the second species described here that has both sexes with a complete row of tergal setae across the majority to all abdominal segments. It differs from M. sychrai that also shows this feature by the female with much smaller anterior tergites (Fig. 11 vs. Fig. 12), and by both sexes with much smaller dimensions, with fewer setae on the metasternal plate and tergites III–VI, and with a much shorter postspiracular seta on VII. The male is further separable by having fewer anterior setae on sternite II and fewer total setae on sternites III–VI.

The type series of M. pittendrighi is unusual in that it was taken from the same individual host bird that also yielded three specimens of M. lightae. We consider it a rarity to find two different species of Myrsidea on the same individual, but we opt for recognizing this as a valid record without evidence to the contrary.

Etymology. This species is named in honor of Barry Pittendrigh, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, in recognition of his efforts to organize and obtain the first complete sequences of a louse genome, which will be a great asset to work on the systematics of lice.