Saemundssonia (Saemundssonia) creagrusa, Palma, Ricardo L., 2012

Palma, Ricardo L., 2012, Three new species of the louse genus Saemundssonia (Insecta: Phthiraptera: Philopteridae), Zootaxa 3478, pp. 38-48 : 41-44

Saemundssonia (Saemundssonia) creagrusa new species

( Figs 7 , 9–10 , 13 , 19 )

“ Docophorus lari ” Kellogg & Kuwana 1902: 463. Not Docophorus lari Denny, 1842 = Saemundssonia (Saemundssonia) lari ( O. Fabricius, 1780) .

“ Docophorus peristictus ” Kellogg 1906: 316 . Not Docophorus peristictus Kellogg & Kuwana, 1902 = Saemundssonia (Saemundssonia) platygaster (Denny, 1842) .

“ Docophorus melanocephalus ” Kellogg 1906: 316. Not Docophorus melanocephalus Burmeister, 1838 = Saemundssonia (Saemundssonia) melanocephalus (Burmeister, 1838) .

“ Docophorus lari ” Kellogg 1906: 317. Not Docophorus lari Denny, 1842 = Saemundssonia (Saemundssonia) lari ( O. Fabricius, 1780) .

“ Saemundssonia gonothorax ” Thompson 1939: 73 . Not Docophorus gonothorax Giebel, 1874 = Saemundssonia (Saemundssonia) lari ( O. Fabricius, 1780) .

“ Saemundssonia melanocephala ” Thompson 1939: 73 . Not Saemundssonia melanocephalus (Burmeister, 1838) .

“ Saemundssonia peristictus ” Thompson 1939: 73 . Not Saemundssonia peristicta ( Kellogg & Kuwana, 1902) = Saemundssonia (Saemundssonia) platygaster (Denny, 1842) .

“ Saemundssonia lari ” Clay in Linsley & Usinger 1966: 132. Not Saemundssonia (Saemundssonia) lari ( O. Fabricius, 1780) .

Type host. Creagrus furcatus (Neboux, 1846) .

Type locality. Bahía Darwin, Isla Genovesa (= Tower Island), Galápagos Islands.

Holotype: 3 in MONZ.

Diagnosis. Male: habitus as in Fig. 9 . Clypeal signature as in Fig. 7 . Genitalia as in Fig.13 . Six long submarginal metanotal setae on each side (occasionally 7 or 8 on one side).

Female: habitus as in Fig. 10 . Clypeal signature as in Fig. 7 . Ventral pigmented plates of the last abdominal segments as in Fig. 19 . Six long submarginal metanotal setae on each side (occasionally 7 on one side). Measurements of both sexes as in Table 1 .

Etymology. The species epithet creagrusa is a noun in apposition referring to the generic name of the host.

Material examined. Types. Ex Creagrus furcatus (Neboux, 1846) : Holotype 3, Bahía Darwin, Isla Genovesa, Galápagos Is, 25 Mar. 1992, R.L. Palma & E.M. Inca ( MONZ, AI. 020531). Paratypes: 93, 8Ƥ, same data as for holotype ( MONZ, AI. 020345); 83, 2Ƥ, Bahía Darwin, Isla Genovesa, Galápagos Is, 10 Mar. 1992, R.L. Palma & E. Vilema ( MONZ, AI. 020309); 83, 3Ƥ, Isla Seymour Norte, Galápagos Is, 29 Mar. 1992, R.L. Palma & E. Vilema ( MONZ, AI. 020346); 13, 1Ƥ, Isla Champion, near Isla Floreana, Galápagos Is, 22 Apr. 1992, R.L. Palma & E. Vilema ( MONZ, AI. 020347); 13, Culpepper Island [= Isla Darwin], Galápagos Is, no date ( EMEC, Kellogg Collection 1043b); 13, 3Ƥ, 1o N – 93o W [near Isla Wolf], Galápagos Is, no date, A.M.B. ( EMEC, Kellogg Collection 1456, Beck 85).

Non-types. Ex Puffinus lherminieri subalaris Ridgway, 1897: 13 , 1Ƥ, Culpepper Island [= Isla Darwin], Galápagos Is, no date ( EMEC, Kellogg Collection 1382, Beck 189). CONTAMINANTS from Creagrus furcatus .

Remarks. Saemundssonia (Saemundssonia) creagrusa is morphologically close to S. (S.) lari ( O. Fabricius, 1780) . Considering that S. (S.) lari parasitises a large number of hosts ( Price et al. 2003a: 234) and consequently exhibits a variable morphology, the only reliable features to distinguish the males of these two species are the male genitalia (compare figs 13 and 14). Females can be separated by the configuration of the ventral pigmented plates of the last abdominal segments ( Fig. 19 ), and by the number of long submarginal metanotal setae: 6 on each side (occasionally 7 on one side) in S. (S.) creagrusa , but 8 (occasionally 7 or 9 on one side) in S. (S.) lari .

Specimens listed above from the Kellogg Collection were collected by R.E. Snodgrass during the Hopkins Stanford Galápagos Expedition in 1898–1899, and by Rollo Beck in 1901 ( Kellogg 1906: 315). These specimens were misidentified by Kellogg & Kuwana (1902), Kellogg (1906) and Clay in Linsley & Usinger (1966) as shown in the synonymy above. The two lice from Puffinus lherminieri subalaris are, without any doubt, contaminants arising from the collecting process (see Palma 1994: 269, 272). The natural regular species of Saemundssonia living on Puffinus lherminieri subalaris is S. (Puffinoecus) minor ( Kellogg & Kuwana, 1902) (see Price et al. 2003a: 235).

Figures

FIGURES 3 – 8. Clypeal signatures: 3, Saemundssonia (Saemundssonia) albatrossa male. 4, Saemundssonia (S.) albatrossa female. 5, Saemundssonia (S.) gaini male. 6, Saemundssonia (S.) gaini female. 7, Saemundssonia (S.) creagrusa. 8, Saemundssonia (S.) gygisa.

FIGURES 9 – 10. Saemundssonia (Saemundssonia) creagrusa: 9, habitus of male holotype. 10, habitus of female allotype. Scale = 1 mm.

FIGURES 11 – 15. Male genitalia, ventral view: 11, Saemundssonia (Saemundssonia) albatrossa. 12, Saemundssonia (S.) gaini. 13, Saemundssonia (S.) creagrusa. 14, Saemundssonia (S.) lari (ex Larus novaehollandiae scopulinus Forster, 1843). 15, Saemundssonia (S.) gygisa.

FIGURES 18 – 20. Female ventral plates of last abdominal segments: 18, Saemundssonia (Saemundssonia) albatrossa. 19, Saemundssonia (S.) creagrusa. 20, Saemundssonia (S.) gygisa.