Priceiella (Thescelovora) ornata Gustafsson, Clayton

Gustafsson, Daniel R., Clayton, Dale H. & Bush, Sarah E., 2018, Twelve new species of Priceiella (Phthiraptera: Ischnocera: Philopteridae) from Old World babblers, with keys to species of two subgenera and checklists of species for the genus, Zootaxa 4382 (3), pp. 401-449 : 425

Priceiella (Thescelovora) ornata Gustafsson, Clayton , & Bush, new species

( Figs 50–56)

Type host. Psittiparus gularis fokiensis (David 1874) —gray-headed parrotbill (Paradoxornithiidae).

Type locality. Jingxi County, Guangxi Province, China.

Diagnosis. Priceiella (Thescelovora) ornata n. sp. does not appear to be particularly close to any of the other species in the subgenus. The following characters found in P. (T.) ornata are unique within Thescelovora: pns absent ( Fig. 52); female subgenital plate slender ( Fig. 56); posterior margin of head clearly rounded in male ( Fig. 52); ps present on abdominal segment III in both sexes ( Figs 50–51); sternites III–VI of both sexes with distinct pale band across medial section of each plate ( Figs 50–51).

The male genitalia of P. (T.) ornata ( Figs 53–55) are most similar to those of P. (T.) alliocephala : gonopore shaped as two roughly parallel ridges, open distally and proximally; the proximal mesosome elongated; mesosomal lobes roughly rectangular, with posterior margin not forming distinct medial point. However, these two species can be separated by the unique characters listed above, as well as the following characters: head pentagonal in P. (T.) alliocephala but dome shaped with convex posterior margin in P. (T.) ornata ( Fig. 52); dorsal preantennal suture present in P. (T.) alliocephala but absent in P. (T.) ornata ( Fig. 52); distal thickening of mesosomal lobes medially interrupted in P. (T.) ornata ( Fig. 54) but medially continuous in P. (T.) alliocephala ; pmes almost directly medial to ames in P. (T.) alliocephala , but ames much anterior to pmes in P. (T.) ornata ( Fig. 54); pst1–2 close together in P. (T.) alliocephala , but widely separated in P. (T.) ornata ( Fig. 55).

Description. Both sexes. Head with distinct shape ( Fig. 52); frons broadly flattened, slightly concave; temples gently rounded; lateral margins of preantennal area convex. Displaced section of marginal carina broad. Dorsal preantennal suture absent. Head chaetotaxy as in Fig. 52; pns absent. Coni reach to distal half of scape. Dark pigmentation patterns occur on: marginal carina (except displaced section), preantennal, preocular and postocular nodi, occipital and marginal temporal carinae, pedicel, flagellomeres I–III, gular plate, proepimera, metepisterna, mesosternum, metasternum and nodi and carinae of the legs. Tergopleurites not pigmented except laterally where pleural incrassations ( Figs 51–51) are almost black. Sternite II of both sexes transparent. Sternite III with brown pigmentation only along posterior margin. Sternites IV–VI with brown pigmentation along anterior and posterior margins (delimited by dotted lines in Figs 50–51). Subgenital plates and tergopleurites IX+X in both sexes, and tergopleurite XI in female with brown pigmentation.

Male. Pteronotum with 5 mms on each side, and abdominal chaetotaxy as in Fig. 50; aps absent on tergopleurite VI. Male genitalia as in Figs 53–55. Basal apodeme slender, constricted at midlength ( Fig. 53). Proximal mesosome rounded rectangular. Mesosomal lobes broad ( Fig. 54). Lateral thickening of lobes sinuous, widening distally. Ventral nodi smooth; 2 ames sensilla sublaterally on each side at anterior end of mesosomal lobes; 2 pmes sensilla just lateral to gonopore on each side; 1 pmes microseta on lateral margins of mesosomal lobes. Parameral heads roughly rectangular, somewhat arched ( Fig. 55). Parameral blades short, divergent; pst1 sensilla, sublateral, distant from sublateral pst2 microseta. Measurements ex Psittiparus gularis fokiensis : (n = 1): TL = 1.62; HL = 0.36; HW = 0.37; PRW = 0.24; PTW = 0.37; AW = 0.50.

Female. Pteronotum with 5–6 mms on each side (one female with 1 mms), and abdominal chaetotaxy as in Fig. 51. Subgenital plate slender ( Fig. 56). Vulval margin gently rounded, slightly flattened medially ( Fig. 56), with 3 slender vms and 5 thorn-like vss on each side; 5–7 slender vos on each side, distal vos near vss. Measurements ex Psittiparus gularis fokiensis : (n = 2): TL = 1.81–2.09; HL = 0.38–0.39; HW = 0.41–0.43; PRW = 0.26–0.28; PTW = 0.40–0.44; AW = not available.

Etymology. The species epithet is derived from Latin “ ornatus ” for “adorned”, referring to the intricate pigmentation patterns of the species.

Type material. Ex Psittiparus gularis fokiensis : Holotype Ƌ, Jingxi County, Guangxi Province, CHINA, 30 Sep. 2004, S.E. Bush, PH-383, AN-445 ( NHML) . Paratypes: 2♀, Shiwandashan National park, Guangxi, China, 2 May 2005, S.E. Bush & D.H. Clayton, host MBR-6744, louse-P-785 (PIPeR).

Remarks. Priceiella (Thescelovora) ornata is the first species of Priceiella and the first species in the Brueelia -complex described from a member of the host family Paradoxornithiidae. The members of this family have previously been included in the family Timaliidae , but have recently been shown to be more closely related to Sylvia warblers ( Cibois 2003; Alström et al. 2006; Gelang et al. 2008; Moyle et al. 2012). All other hosts of species of the subgenus Thescelovora occur on members of the host families Timaliidae and Pellorneidae , and the great morphological differences between P. (T.) ornata and all other species in the subgenus may suggest that P. (T.) ornata is not particularly closely related to the other P. (Thescelovora).