Halipeurus pricei Palma, new species
Creators: name: Palma, Ricardo L.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2011
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Phthiraptera
Philopteridae
Halipeurus
Halipeurus pricei

description: Halipeurus pricei Palma, new species
(Figs 4, 13–15, 29, 44, 65)
Halipeurus (Halipeurus) sp.; Pilgrim & Palma, 1982: 9. Halipeurus (Halipeurus) sp.; Watling, 1986: 66.
TYPE HOST: Pterodroma brevipes brevipes (Peale, 1848).
TYPE LOCALITY: Rarotonga Island, Cook Islands, Pacific Ocean.
HOLOTYPE: 3 in MONZ.
DIAGNOSIS: Male: habitus as in Fig. 13; clypeal signature as in Fig. 4; terminalia (ventral view) as in Fig. 29; genitalia as in Fig. 65. Female: habitus as in Fig. 14; clypeal signature as in Fig. 15; terminalia (ventral view) as in Fig. 44.
Measurements of both sexes as in Table 1.
ETYMOLOGY: The species epithet is a noun in the genitive case honouring Professor Roger D. Price for his outstanding contribution to the systematics of Phthiraptera during the last 50 years, and for his friendship and collaboration during a great part of those years.
MATERIAL EXAMINED
Types
Ex Pterodroma brevipes brevipes: Holotype 3 (MONZ, AI.023446), allotype Ƥ (MONZ, AI.023447) and 43, 9Ƥ paratypes, Rarotonga I., Cook Is, 26 Jul. 1984, G. McCormack (MONZ). Other 21 paratypes as follows: 63, 6Ƥ, Gau I., Fiji, 1 May 1984, D. Watling, DW-F602 (MONZ); 33, 2Ƥ, Raivavae I., Austral Group (Tubuai Is), French Polynesia, Jul. 1992, G. McCormack (MONZ); 13, 3Ƥ, Viti Levu I., Fiji, no date, Macleay Museum B.4433 (MONZ).
Non-types
Ex Pterodroma brevipes magnificens Bretagnolle & Shirihai, 2010: 13, 3Ƥ, Mt Suretamatai, Vanua Lava I., Banks Is, Vanuatu, 7–8 Mar. 2011, A.J.D. Tennyson (MONZ).
Ex Pterodroma brevipes (not identified to subspecies): 23, 30 miles west of “Melapan” I. [probably Mera Lava I., Banks Is, Vanuatu; fide Imber & Tennyson 2001: 123], no date (AMNH).
Ex Pterodroma leucoptera leucoptera (Gould, 1844): 23, 2Ƥ, Cabbage Tree I., New South Wales, Australia, 14– 15 Feb. 1977, P.J. Fullagar (RLCP); 1Ƥ, Cabbage Tree I., New South Wales, Australia, 27 Nov. 1995 (MONZ). Ex Pterodroma leucoptera caledonica Imber & Jenkins, 1981: 13, 2Ƥ, Otaki Beach, N.Z., 25 Jun. 1961, P.C. Bull, DM 11377 (MONZ); 1Ƥ, Tasman Sea, 43o28’S- 163o55’E, 3 Mar. 1965, P.C. Harper, DM 11378 (MONZ); 2Ƥ, Titahi Bay, Wellington, N.Z., 4 May 1973, S.P.C.A., DM 17366 (MONZ); 43, 2Ƥ, Kalouehola River, Mt Dzumac (550m), New Caledonia, 19 Feb. 1978, Greenway-Vuilleumier (MONZ); 73, 7Ƥ, New Caledonia, Feb. 1994, V. Bretagnolle (MONZ).
DISCUSSION: My examination of the 32 males and 41 females of H. pricei listed above shows no consistent morphological or size differences associated with the Halipeurus on any of the four hosts. The uniformity of the four populations of H. pricei is not unexpected considering the close relationship of its host taxa, which have been variously treated as full species or subspecies. Pterodroma brevipes was originally described as a full species, then treated as a subspecies of Pterodroma leucoptera for some years (Jouanin & Mougin 1979: 78, Watling 1986), and now is considered a full species by most authors (e.g. BirdLife International 2000: 56; Watling 2001: 186; Bretagnolle & Shirihai 2010), but as a subspecies of Pterodroma leucoptera by others (e.g. Dickinson 2003: 75). Although in this paper I follow the bird nomenclature in Dickinson (2003), I have made an exception with this group of Pterodroma taxa and have adopted the taxonomy used by the Ornithological Society of New Zealand Checklist Committee (2010) and Bretagnolle & Shirihai (2010).
Among the Halipeurus males with a very short sixth abdominal segment—i.e. all species except Halipeurus marquesanus (Ferris, 1932), H. heraldicus Timmermann, 1960 and H. noctivagus Timmermann, 1960 — Halipeurus pricei belongs to a group of small species with slender genitalia, thin parallel parameres, and without pigmented aedeagal sclerites. They are: Halipeurus bulweriae Timmermann, 1960; H. falsus falsus Eichler, 1949; H. falsus pacificus Edwards, 1961; H. forficulatus Edwards, 1961; H. leucophryna; H. spadix spadix Timmermann, 1961 and H. spadix subclavus Timmermann, 1961. However, males of H. pricei can be distinguished from males of all of those species/subspecies by a number of characters, especially the short length of its parameres (see Tables 1 and 2), the shape of the clypeal signature, the shape and chaetotaxy of the ventral terminalia, and the length/width ratio of the head. As is the case with most Halipeurus species, females of H. pricei are much more difficult to separate than males; however, a detailed comparison of the shape of the clypeal signature and of the shape and chaetotaxy of the last two abdominal segments allows morphological separation of H. pricei females from those of the species mentioned above.
description: Published as part of Palma, Ricardo L., 2011, New taxa, new synonymies and new host records in the louse genus Halipeurus (Insecta: Phthiraptera: Philopteridae) parasitic on petrels (Aves: Procellariiformes), pp. 1-45 in Zootaxa 3017 on pages 7-9, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.278615