First Record of Aquanirmus major Cicchino & González Acuña (Phthiraptera: Philopteridae) on the Great Grebe, Podiceps major Boddaert (Aves: Podicipedidae) in Brazil

SCIENTIFIC NOTE

First Record of Aquanirmus major Cicchino & González Acuña (Phthiraptera: Philopteridae) on the Great Grebe, Podiceps major Boddaert (Aves: Podicipedidae) in Brazil

F Dantas-Torres^I; G Vieira^II

^IDipto di Sanità Pubblica e Zootecnia, Facoltà di Medicina Veterinaria, Univ degli Studi di Bari, Valenzano, Bari, Italy

^IIDepto de Vigilância à Saúde, Distrito Sanitário VI, Secretaria de Saúde do Recife, Torre, PE, Brasil

^{Correspondence}

ABSTRACT

This report is the first record of a species of Aquanirmus in Brazil and it increases the known geographical distribution of A. major Cicchino & González Acuña, a species recently described based on material collected in Argentina and Chile.

Keywords: Chewing lice, bird lice, Ischnocera

The genus Aquanirmus Clay & Meinertzhagen (Phthiraptera: Philopteridae) comprises 13 species of chewing lice that parasitize grebes (Aves: Podicipedidae) (Edwards 1965, Kettle 1974, Castro & Cicchino 2000, Cicchino & González-Acuña 2009). Aquanirmus major Cicchino & González Acuña was recently described based on material collected from the great grebe, Podiceps major in Argentina and Chile (Cicchino & González-Acuña 2009). This report is the first record of a species of Aquanirmus in Brazil and it increases the known geographical distribution of A. major.

In November 2003, during a field mission carried out in the Parque Nacional da Lagoa do Peixe (31º26' S, 51º10' W and 31º14'S, 50º54'W), south coast of Rio Grande do Sul State, a specimen of P. major was captured with a mist-net and found to be infested by lice. In the laboratory, lice were slide-mounted in Canadian balsam and identified using appropriate keys and original species descriptions (Edwards 1965, Price et al 2003, Cicchino & González-Acuña 2009). Measurements are given in millimeters. Abbreviations used: HL, head length; HW, head width; PL, prothorax length; PW, prothorax width; PTL, pterothorax lenght; PTW, pterothorax width; TL, total body length.

Seven females of A. major were identified. They showed relatively large head (cephalic index = 1.142-1.192), sternite VIII with 12-16 long setae in outer row and 10-15 short setae in inner row, and the following body measurements (N = 7): HL, 0.620-0.640 (0.633 ± 0.008); HW, 0.520-0.560 (0.536 ± 0.014); PL, 0.200-0.220 (0.204 ± 0.008); PW, 0.390-0.440 (0.410 ± 0.016); PTL, 0.210-0.260 (0.230 ± 0.015); PTW, 0.500-0.540 (0.519 ± 0.015); TL, 2.370-2.470 (2.393 ± 0.037). In general, these females of A. major from Brazil had chromatic features and body measurements compatible with those collected in Argentina and Chile (Cicchino & González-Acuña 2009), although slightly smaller. For instance, head length and width and total body length of females from Brazil are shorter than those reported by Cicchino & González-Acuña (2009). However, these differences are not significant and might be attributed to the low number of specimens examined in the present study and/or even to the slide-mounting process.

The specific identification is usually based on the morphology of male genitalia (Edwards 1965). However, the female of A. major can be distinguished from other closely related females (e.g., Aquanirmus emersoni Edwards and Aquanirmus podylimbus Edwards) by size and most of the body measurements as well as in proportions of the head (Cicchino & González-Acuña 2009). In the mid 1960s, Edwards (1965) revised the genus Aquanirmus, describing four new species and two subspecies. He also provided a thorough characterization of the genus, with re-descriptions for the 10 species recognized up to that time. Since Edward's work, three new species have been described (Kettle 1974, Castro & Cicchino 2000, Cicchino & González-Acuña 2009).

This is the first record of a species de Aquanirmus in Brazil, increasing the worldwide distribution of this seldom studied group of chewing lice. Therefore, the geographical distribution of A. major comprises three South American countries: Argentina, Chile (previous records) and Brazil (first record herein). Further collections in Brazil are needed to assess ecological parameters of parasitism by A. major on P. major, such as prevalence, mean intensity and mean abundance of infestation.

Acknowledgments

The authors are deeply indebted to Michel P Valim for his help with the measurements and for his useful comments on an early draft of this manuscript.

Received 16 August 2009 and accepted 26 October 2009

Edited by Roberto A Zucchi - ESALQ/USP

• Castro DDC, Cicchino A C (2000) A new species of Aquanirmus Clay and Meinertzhagen, 1939 (Phthiraptera, Philopteridae) parasitic on Rollandia rolland chilensis (Lesson, 1928) (Aves, Podicipitidae)[sic], with remarks on the external chorionic morphology of the eggs. Pap Avulsos Zool 41: 213-221.
• Cicchino AC, González-Acuña DA (2009) A new species of Aquanirmus Clay & Meinertzhagen (Phthiraptera: Philopteridae) parasitic on the Great Grebe, Podiceps major (Aves: Podicipedidae), in Argentina and Chile. Neotrop Entomol 38: 384-388.
• Edwards RL (1965) Revision of the genus Aquanirmus (Mallophaga: Philopteridae), parasitic on grebes (Podicipidae). Can Entomol 97: 920-935.
• Kettle PR (1974) Aquanirmus australis n. sp. (Mallophaga: Philopteridae) from the New Zealand dabchick, Podiceps rufopectus N Z J Zool 1: 337-340.
• Price RD, Hellenthal RA, Palma RL (2003) World checklist of chewing lice with host associations and keys to families and genera, p.1-448. In Price RD, Hellenthal RA, Palma RL, Johnson KP, Clayton DH (eds) The chewing lice: world checklist and biological overview. Champaign, Ill Nat Hist Surv Biol, Special Publication 24, 501p.

Publication Dates

• Publication in this collection
  14 Mar 2011
• Date of issue
  Feb 2011

History

• Accepted
  26 Oct 2009
• Received
  16 Aug 2009