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

description: Schizosairhynchus Gustafsson & Bush, new genus
Sturnidoecus Eichler, 1944: 81 (in partim).
Type species. Schizosairhynchus erysichthoni new species
Diagnosis. Members of the genus Schizosairhynchus n. gen. (Figs 463–476) share the following characters with Bizarrifrons (Figs 477–478) and Manucodicola n. gen. (Figs 451–462): marginal carina widely interrupted medianly (Figs 453, 459, 465, 472, 477); premarginal carina and as3 absent; frons hyaline posteriorly to site of as1 (Figs 453, 459, 465, 472, 477); male subgenital plate widens distally (Figs 451, 457, 463, 470, 477); male genitalia prominent, bulky (Figs 455, 461, 466, 473, 478); vss numerous, long (Figs 456, 462, 469, 476); psps and aps absent on tergopleurites II–III in both sexes (Figs 45 1–452, 457–458, 463–464, 470–471, 477). Unlike Schizosairhynchus, the otherwise similar genera Sturnidoecus (Figs 377–426), Rostrinirmus (Figs 437–450) and Buphagoecus n. gen. (Figs 427–436) have the following characters: premarginal carina present; frons hyaline only median to the premarginal carina; psps or aps present on at least tergopleurite III in males (also occurring on other tergopleurites and on female tergopleurite III in some species; see the entries for these genera for details).
Schizosairhynchus is separated from Manucodicola and Bizarrifrons by the following characters: preantennal area asymmetrical in Bizarrifrons (Fig. 477) and Manucodicola (Figs 454, 460), but symmetrical in Schizosairhynchus (Figs 465, 472); dorsal anterior plate connected to main head plate in Bizarrifrons (Fig. 377) and Manucodicola (Figs 453, 459), but completely separated from main head plate and extended posteriorly into a pointed horn that overlaps with main head plate in Schizosairhynchus (Figs 465, 472); ppss of Schizosairhynchus located on the medio-posterior margin of prothorax (Figs 463–464, 470–471), but on the postero-lateral corners in Bizarrifrons (Fig. 477) and Manucodicola (Figs 451–452, 457–458); posterior margin of pterothorax with median indentation in Schizosairhynchus (Figs 463–464, 470–471), but without such indentation in Manucodicola (Figs 451–452, 457–458) and Bizarrifrons (Fig. 477); sternal plate II extended laterally in Schizosairhynchus (Figs 463– 464, 470–471), but not in Manucodicola (Figs 451–452, 457–458) or Bizarrifrons (Fig. 477). The proximal mesosome substantially overlaps with basal apodeme in Schizosairhynchus (Figs 466, 473) and Bizarrifrons (Fig. 477), but this is not the case in Manucodicola (Figs 455, 461). However, like in Manucodicola (Figs 455, 461), the gonopore is located ventrally and the mesosomal lobes are fused distally in Schizosairhynchus (Figs 467, 474); in contrast, the gonopore is terminal and the mesosomal lobes are not fused distally in Bizarrifrons (Fig. 378). Rugose nodi and a ventral sclerite are present in Schizosairhynchus (Figs 467, 474), but absent in the two other genera (Figs 455, 461, 478). Female Schizosairhynchus (Figs 469, 476) have vos located on subgenital plate, whereas the vos of almost all other genera treated here, including Manucodicola (Figs 456, 462) and Bizarrifrons (not illustrated) are located lateral to the subgenital plate.
Description. Both sexes. Head bulb-shaped (Figs 465, 472), preantennal area narrow. Frons deeply concave, hyaline. Hyaline margin present laterally, continuous with anterior fleshy lobes. Marginal carina widely interrupted medianly. Premarginal carina absent. Ventral carinae visible to anterior end of head, extending farther anterior than marginal carina. Dorsal preantennal suture continuous with hyaline margin, extending posteriorly to position of ads, and medianly continuous, separating dorsal anterior plate from main head plate. Dorsal anterior plate elongated, anterior margin concave, posterior margin with distinct hardened extension that covers suture and continues posterior to suture, overlapping with main head plate. Ventral anterior plate absent. Head setae as in Fig. 465, 472; as3 absent; ads and dsms often thorn-like; pts and pns sensilla, often hard to see. Coni long, slender, reaching beyond distal margin of scapes. Antennae monomorphic. Temporal carinae visible; mts 3 only macrosetae. Gular plate small, shape varying between species.
Prothorax rounded pentagonal, with posterior margin convergent to blunt median point (Figs 463–464, 470– 471); ppss on medio-posterior margin. Proepimera with large, blunt median ends. Pterothorax rounded crescentshaped; lateral margins convex, divergent; posterior margin rounded. Posterior margin of pteronotum narrowly indented at midline; indentation more extensive in male than in female and may continue for more than half the length length; mms narrowly interrupted medianly. Meso- and metasterna not fused, very small; 1 seta on posterolateral corner on each side of each plate. Metepisterna slender; median ends blunt. Leg chaetotaxy as in Fig. 25, except fI-p2 absent; fII-a3 and fIII-a2 dorsal. Many leg setae long and spike-like.
Abdomen (Figs 463–464, 470–471) almost circular in male, oblong in female. Tergopleurites triangular, more blunt in females than in males; tergopleurites II–IX+X in male and tergopleurites II–VIII in females moderately divided medianly. Sternal plate II in both sexes large, transversally continuous; sternal plates III–VI in both sexes small, crescent-shaped, medianly continuous; at least some sternal plates with small lateral accessory plates. Pleural incrassations moderate. Tergopleurites moderately extended onto ventral surface. Re-entrant heads large. Male subgenital plate trapezoidal, reaching posterior margin of abdomen and wrapping around to dorsal side; accessory sternal plates present lateral to subgenital plate on segments VII–VIII. Female subgenital plate roughly triangular, reaching vulval margin, either not flaring (Fig. 476) or flaring into partial cross-piece (Fig. 469); accessory sternal plates present lateral to subgenital plate on segment VII. Abdominal chaetotaxy as in Table 2, and Figs 463–464, 470–471. Vulval margin (Fig, 469, 476) with few slender vms, numerous thorn-like vss; vos located on and following lateral margins of the subgenital plate; distal vos situated median to vss.
Male genitalia (Figs 466–468, 473–475) prominent. Basal apodeme trapezoidal (Fig. 473) or rectangular (Fig. 466). Proximal mesosome rectangular, overlapping basal apodeme. Anterior margin may be thickened partially (Fig. 474) or entirely (Fig. 467) Gonopore small, ventral, open distally (Figs 467, 474). Mesosomal lobes large, bulging laterally, fused distal to gonopore. Rugose nodi may be present in postero-lateral corners; 2 ames microsetae on each side antero-lateral to gonopore; 2 pmes microsetae laterally on each side on lateral bulges of mesosomal lobes. Parameral heads (Figs 468, 475) folded, oblique. Parameral blades strongly curved medianly; pst1 sensilla, central; pst2 microsetae, central, near pst1.
Host distribution. Based on the three known species and undescribed material, Schizosairhynchus is limited to starlings of the genera Aplonis Gould, 1836, Basilornis Bonaparte, 1850, Mino Lesson, 1827, and Sarcops Walden, 1875. These four host genera are all members of the “South Asian/Pacific Starlings ” clade (Lovette & Rubenstein 2007), and it is likely that Schizosairhynchus also parasitise other starlings belonging to this clade, such as species of Scissirostrum Lafresnaye, 1845, Ampeliceps Blyth, 1842, Streptocitta Bonaparte, 1850, Enodes Temminck, 1839, and Gracula Linnaeus, 1758. Additional collections are required to determine the full host range of Schizosairhynchus.
Geographical range. South-East Asia and Australasia.
Etymology. The genus name is derived from Greek “ skhizein ” for “to split”, the Okinawan martial arts weapon the sai, and Greek “ rhunkhos ” for “bill”. A sai consists of a long baton (“ monouchi ”) flanked on both sides with shorter prongs (“ yoku ”), which are often curved and distally pointed. A sai split medianly is reminiscent of the shape of the preantennal area (Figs 463–464, 470–471) of members of this genus. Gender: masculine.
Remarks. No representative of Schizosairhynchus was included in the phylogeny of Bush et al. (2016), but structure of the male genitalia suggests Schizosairhynchus may be most closely related to Manucodicola and Bizarrifrons. The collection of fresh, sequenceable material in the future will help clarify the relationships of Schizosairhynchus within the Brueelia -complex.
Included species
* Schizosairhynchus erysichthoni new species
* Schizosairhynchus minovenator new species
* Schizosairhynchus philippensis (Tandan & Kumar, 1969: 205) n. comb. [in Sturnidoecus]
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 277-278, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4313.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/883161