Nemuus imperator Bush 2017, new species
Creators: name: Bush, Sarah E.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2017
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Phthiraptera
Philopteridae
Nemuus
Nemuus imperator

description: Nemuus imperator Gustafsson & Bush, new species
(Figs 338–345)
Type host. Artamus maximus Meyer, 1874 — great woodswallow. Type locality. Wanuma, Madang District, Papua New Guinea.
Diagnosis. Nemuus imperator n. sp. is separated from Ne. hoedhri n. sp. by the following characters: preantennal area shorter than postantennal area in Ne. imperator (Fig. 340), but about as long as postantennal area in Ne. hoedhri (Fig. 348); dorsal anterior plate longer than broad in Ne. hoedhri (Fig. 340), but about as long as broad, or shorter than broad, in Ne. imperator (Fig. 348); male scape more swollen in Ne. imperator (Fig. 340) than in Ne. hoedhri (Fig. 348); accessory sts present on segment II in both sexes of Ne. hoedhri (Figs 346–347) but absent in Ne. imperator (Figs 338–339); tps present on female tergopleurites II–V in Ne. hoedhri (Fig. 346), but absent on these tergopleurites in Ne. imperator (Fig. 339); indentation of posterior margin of the female subgenital plate reaches farther than mid-length in Ne. hoedhri (Fig. 353) but only to about mid-length in Ne. imperator (Fig. 345); Ne. hoedhri with 3–4 vms, 8–10 vss, and 6–8 vos on each side (Fig. 353), and Ne. imperator with 4–5 vms, 10–12 vss, and 5–6 vos on each side (Fig. 345); mesosome with large distal nodi and no rugose area in Ne. imperator (Fig. 343), but with slender thickenings and large rugose areas in Ne. hoedhri (Fig. 351); parameral heads moderate, folded distally more than medianly, in Ne. hoedhri (Fig. 352), but wide, folded medianly in Ne. imperator (Fig. 344); distal parameres blunt in Ne. hoedhri (Fig. 352) but pointed in Ne. imperator (Fig. 344).
Description. Both sexes. Head shape, structure, and chaetotaxy as in genus description and Fig. 340. Preantennal area very short, flattened. Frons flat or shallowly concave. Dorsal anterior plate wider than long. Ventral, marginal, and occipital carinae, ventral anterior plate, mandibular framework, and gular plate with medium-brown pigmentation. Head nodi with deep-brown pigmentation. Thoracic and abdominal segments as in genus description and Figs 338–339. Lateral section of tergopleurites, metepisterna, proepimera, meso- and metasterna, sternal plates, subgenital plate, and broad band along vulval margin with light-brown pigmentation, progressively darker posteriorly.
Male. Scape swollen (Fig. 340). Subgenital plate with distinct lateral indentation at about half-length (Fig. 338). Abdominal chaetotaxy as in Table 2 and Fig. 338. Basal apodeme notched anteriorly (Fig. 342). Proximal mesosome broadly flattened, overlapping with basal apodeme (Fig. 343). Gonopore narrowly open distally. Mesosomal lobes slender, elongated, with distinct nodi in anterior and posterior ends. Posterior nodi large, triangular; anterior nodi rounded; 2 ames microsetae on each side submedianly anterior to gonopore; 2 pmes microsetae on each side on lateral margins of mesosomal lobes just anterior to distal nodi. Parameral heads (Fig. 344) roughly triangular, folded medianly. Parameral blades long, pointed distally; pst1 as in genus description; pst2 marginal. Measurements ex Artamus maximus (n = 21 except n = 20 for AW and n = 17 for TL): TL =1.36–1.62 (1.53); HL = 0.36–0.42 (0.40); HW = 0.41–0.49 (0.46); PRW = 0.28–0.34 (0.31); PTW = 0.44–0.54 (0.48); AW = 0.54–0.71 (0.65).
Female. Scape not swollen (Fig. 341). Abdominal chaetotaxy as in Table 2 and Fig. 339; tps absent on segments II–V. Posterior margin of subgenital plate narrowly indented medianly to about mid-length (Fig. 345). Broad band of light brown pigmentation follows vulval margin. Vulval margin gently rounded (Fig. 345); 4–5 short, slender vms on each side, and 10–12 short, thorn-like vss on each side; 5–6 short, slender vos on each side; distal vos median to vss. Measurements (n = 26): TL = 1.69–2.66 (2.18); HL = 0.43–0.48 (0.45); HW = 0.47–0.55 (0.51); PRW = 0.30–0.35 (0.32); PTW = 0.49–0.57 (0.52); AW = 0.70–0.90 (0.79).
Etymology. The species epithet derived from Latin “ imperator ” for “ emperor ”, referring to the large size of this species.
Type material. Ex Artamus maximus: Holotype ♂, Wanuma, Madang District, Papua New Guinea, 24 Feb. 1974, 103887 (OSUS). Paratypes: 3♂, 4♀, same data as holotype (OSUS); 1♂, 1♀, Mount Kaindi, Wau, Morobe District, Papua New Guinea, 24 Aug. 1969, BBM-97690 (OSUS); 9♂, 7♀, vicinity of Wau, elev. 7700 ft, Mount Kaindi, Morobe District, Papua New Guinea, 23 Apr. 1970, A.B. Mirza, BBM-NG-99110–3 (BPBM).
Additional material examined (non-types)
Ex Artamus maximus: 2♂, 2♀, Mount Kaindi, elev. 2350, Morobe District, Papua New Guinea, 14 Jun. 1967, A.C. Ziegler, BBM-NG-53555 (BPBM); 4♂, same locality and collector as previous, 23 Jun. 1967, BBM-NG- 53287 (BPBM); 1♂, same locality and collector as previous, 30 Jun. 1967, BBM-NG-53340 (BPBM); 2♂, 3♀, same locality and collector as previous, 2 Jul. 1967, BBM-NG-53394 or BBM-NG-53397 (BPBM); 1♂, 1♀, same locality as previous, 16 Jun. 1967, P.H. Colman, BBM-NG-50702 (BPBM); 3♀, same locality and collector as previous, 14 Jul. 1967, BBM-NG-51183 or BBM-NG-51190 (BPBM); 1♂, same loacality as previous, 28 Jan. 1963, J.H. Sedlacek, BBM-NG-20204 (BPBM); 1♂, 1♀, same locality and collector as previous, 6 Oct. 1962, BBM-NG-20178. 1♂, 2♀, Wau, elev. 1200 m, Morobe District, Papua New Guinea, 1 Oct. 1962, J.H. Sedlacek, BBM-NG-20177 (BPBM); 1♂, 1♀, vicinity of Wau, elev. 7000 ft, Mount Missim, Morobe District, Papua New Guinea, 11 Jun. 1963, P.J. Shanahan, BBM-NG-28524–5 (BPBM); 2♂, 2♀, vicinity of Wau, elev. 7700 ft, Mount Kaindi, Morobe District, Papua New Guinea, 24 Feb. 1970, F.J. Radovsky, BBM-NG-99129 (BPBM); 2♂, Pindiu, elev. 3000 ft, Morobe District, Papua New Guinea, 22 Apr. 1963, P.J. Shanahan, BBM-NG-27729 (BPBM); 2♀, Bulolo River, elev. 3000 ft, Morobe District, Papua New Guinea, 15 Jun. 1963, P.J. Shanahan, BBM-NG-28454 (BPBM); 1♂, same locality and collector as previous, 16 Jun. 1963, BBM-NG-28455 (BPBM); 2♂, 4♀, Karimui, elev. 1100 m, Chimbu District, Papua New Guinea, 12 Jul. 1963, J.H. Sedlacek, BBM-NG-20074–5 (BPBM); 2♂, 3♀, Kassam Pass, elev. 1300 m, Eastern Highlands District, Papua New Guinea, 25 Aug. 1967, P.H. Colman, BBM-NG-60040–1 (BPBM); 4♂, 4♀, Kalolo Creek, elev. 1070 m., 6 km NW of Wau, Morobe District, Papua New Guinea, 16 Sep. 1967, A.B. Mirza, BBM-NG-54563 (BPBM); 2♂, 1♀, Enarotali, Papua Province, Indonesia, 5 Jul. 1962, H. Clissold, BBM-21290 (BPBM); 1♀, Lake Anggi Gidji, West Papua Province, Indonesia, 26 Feb. 1963, M.C. Thompson, BBM-NG-22438 (BPBM).
description: Published as part of Bush, Sarah E., 2017, Morphological revision of the hyperdiverse Brueelia - complex (Insecta: Phthiraptera: Ischnocera: Philopteridae) with new taxa, checklists and generic key, pp. 1-443 in Zootaxa 4313 (1) on pages 208-211, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4313.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/883161