Phalacropsylla Rothschild, 1915

Acosta, Roxana & Hastriter, Michael W., 2017, A review of the flea genus Phalacropsylla Rothschild, 1915 (Siphonaptera, Ctenophthalmidae, Neopsyllinae, Phalacropsyllini) with new host and distributional records, ZooKeys 675, pp. 27-43 : 27

Phalacropsylla Rothschild, 1915

Phalacropsylla Rothschild, 1915: 39; Ewing, 1924: 346, 1930: 173; Jordan, 1937: 268; Ewing & Fox, 1943: 85; Hubbard, 1947: 338; Traub, 1950: 76; Hopkins & Rothschild, 1962: 299; Eads & Campos, 1982: 243-244; Holland, 1985: 125.

Genotype.

Phalacropsylla paradisea Rothschild, 1915, Paradise [Cochise County], Arizona, off Epimys sp. [= Rattus ], Mus sp., and civet cat, collected in September, October, November, and December 1913 by Otto C. Duffner. [Note: Early collectors often referred to small sylvatic rodents as " Mus " and reference to the "civet cat" in southern Arizona likely refers to the ring-tailed cat ( Bassariscus astutus , Lichtenstein) and not to skunks of the family Mephidae .]

Description.

Frons broadly rounded, without frontal tubercle. Inter-antennal suture (falx) well developed in both male and female. Antennal groove shallow, opened posteriorly. Antenna asymmetrical, extending onto prosternosome in male, female antenna shorter. Margin of pedicel with short setae, none extending much beyond base of clavus. Occipital area with three oblique rows of setae. Pre-antennal area (anterior to eye) with two rows of setae. Head lacking setae below or posterior to eye. Eye elliptical and pigmented; central unpigmented sinus present. Eye contiguous with two overlapping, darkly pigmented spines; lateral anterior spine broader and shorter than longer narrow mesal spine. Maxilla very elongated, extending half the length of forecoxa. Labial palpus long, extended to or beyond apex of trochanter. Pronotum with complete row of long setae anterior to 14-18 broad, bluntly pointed ctenidial spines. Mesonotal collar with several pseudosetae per side. Pleural arch well developed [an unusual characteristic for a true nest flea, Eads and Maupin (1982), Lewis and Maser (1978), and Barrera and Traub (1967)]. Suture dorsad to lateral mesonotal area expanded into a distinct rounded incrassation at posterior margin abutting pleural arch. Meso- and metasterna protruding downward producing a lobe between coxae (especially so in metasternum). Meso- and metacoxae with three long stout setae at apico-caudal margin. Fore tibia with six dorsal notches; mid- and hind tibiae each with seven dorsal notches. Distotarsomeres each with four pairs of plantar bristles with a fifth pair shifted onto plantar surface between first proximal lateral pair. More anterior terga with small marginal pigmented spinelets. Terga with two rows of slender setae; anterior row small and posterior main row long with intercalaries. Abdominal spiracles blunt at apex. Three long antesensilial bristles; middle bristle longest of three. Sensilium slightly convex; with 12 sensilial pits per side. Eighth tergum of female with caudal lobe bearing marginal row of five to seven stout long setae and six to eight short stout, more anterior setae. Eighth tergum reduced in male. Caudal margin of female S-VII with rounded dorsal lobe subtended by broad sinus. Bulga of spermatheca pyriform with slender hilla much longer than bulga. Duct of bursa copulatrix narrow, longer than spermatheca, sclerotized, with apical hyaline bursa copulatrix. Male distal arm of S-IX club-shaped; broader at apex than proximal portion. Always bearing various arrangements of spiniform setae near apex. Male basimere very broad and robust; manubrium narrow and elongated with parallel sides. Basimere not divided into lobes but may or may not possess a sinus on ventral margin. Telomere narrow (at least five times as long as widest dimension); fovea variously placed on dorsal margin. Aedeagus structurally narrower at apex than at middle. Crochet and dorsal armature on sclerotized inner tube present.