Myrsidea seminuda Eichler, 1951

Literak, Ivan, 2017, Where are the species limits? Morphology versus genetics in Neotropical chewing lice of the genus Myrsidea (Phthiraptera: Menoponidae), with description of three new species, Zootaxa 4324 (1), pp. 161-179 : 173

Myrsidea seminuda Eichler, 1951

Myrsidea seminuda Eichler, 1951: 53 .

Myrsidea seminuda Eichler, 1951 : Price et al. (2003: 131); Price & Dalgleish (2006: 11, figs 13–14); Kounek et al. (2011: 13 ).

Type host. Thraupis palmarum (Wied, 1821) —Palm tanager ( Thraupidae ).

Type locality. Unknown.

Material examined. Ex Thraupis episcopus (Linnaeus, 1766) —Blue-grey tanager ( Thraupidae ): 6♀, 5♂, Cascay, Huanuco, Perú (9°50'S, 76°08'W), 20–23 Aug. 2011, I. Literak.

Remarks. Myrsidea seminuda was redescribed from material collected from the type host and T. episcopus in Costa Rica and Trinidad ( Price & Dalgleish 2006; Kounek et al. 2011). Our material is the first record of this louse from Perú. The record of M. seminuda in Sychra et al. (2009: 502) from Thraupis sayaca from Brazil is a misidentification of M. sayacae (see above). The geographic distribution of these Myrsidea populations agrees with their separation in two species, with M. seminuda recorded in the north-west of the Neotropical Region ( Costa Rica, Trinidad, Perú), while M. sayacae is found in the south-east of the Region (southern Brazil, Paraguay).

Our specimens differ from the previous descriptions of M. seminuda by setal counts and dimensions, as follows (overall data taken from Price & Dalgleish 2006, and Kounek et al. 2011 are in parentheses):

Female (n = 6). Gula with 4–7 (3–6) setae on each side. Metanotum with 9–12 (9–12) setae on posterior margin. Tergal setae: III, 22–29 (27–32); V, 30–36 (29–39); VI, 26–33 (25–32). Sternal setae: II, 17–20 marginal setae between asters, 19–26 anterior (together 36–46 vs. 32–44); VI, 26–32 (25–31); VII, 16–23 (15–18). Dimensions: TW, 0.44–0.48 (0.45–0.47); HL, 0.31–0.33 (0.30–0.32); AWIV, 0.55–0.61 (0.56–0.61); ANW, 0.20– 0.22 (0.18–0.20); TL, 1.50–1.60 (1.48–1.59).

Male (n = 5). Metanotum with 9–11 (10–11) setae on posterior margin. Tergal setae: III, 29–32 (30–38); IV, 29–36 (30–38); V, 29–34 (30–38); VI, 30–34 (32–35); VIII, 14–17 (16–18). Sternal setae: II, 11–16 marginal setae between asters, 13–20 anterior (together 24–36vs. 25–37); III, 27–40 (30–42); IV, 32–42 (30–41); V, 28–41 (31– 38); VI, 28–37 (24–31); VII, 18–26 (17–20); VIII, 10–17 (12–17). Dimensions: TW, 0.40–0.43 (0.41–0.43); PW, 0.26–0.29 (0.27–0.29); TL, 1.27–1.37 (1.24–1.29).