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

description: Sturnidoecus mon Gustafsson & Bush, new species
(Figs 406–414)
Type host. Euplectes hordeaceus (Linnaeus, 1758) — black-winged bishop. Type locality. Lovi, Mole, Northern Region, Ghana.
Diagnosis. Sturnidoecus mon n. sp. is the only known species in its group, and is separated from all other Sturnidoecus by the shape of the male genitalia (Figs 389, 411–413). Apart from St. mon, the only Sturnidoecus species-groups with largely flat posterior margins of the mesosome are the St. porphyrogenitus (Fig. 391) and St. simpl ex (Fig. 394) species-groups, however apart from this superficial similarity, these three species groups are very different in the male genitalia. Sturnidoecus mon is the only known species in the genus with a clearly defined, subterminal gonopore (Fig. 410), an irregular, somewhat frayed-looking anterior margin of the proximal mesosome, and paired ventral rectangular flaps of the anterior mesosomal lobes. Females can only be distinguished from other species of Sturnidoecus by the median bulge of the vulval margin (Fig. 412).
Description. Both sexes. Head shape, structure, and chaetotaxy as in genus description and Fig. 408; as1 absent. Preantennal nodi not broader than marginal carinae, not distinct. Coni slender, reaching just beyond distal margin of scapes. Preocular nodi small, square-shaped. Postocular nodi not distinct; pos located at posterior margin of eye. Gular plate broad, very angular. Thoracic and abdominal segments as in genus description and Figs 406– 407. Posterior margin of pterothorax rounded in both sexes. Sternal plates large, present on segments II–VI in both sexes.
Male. Abdominal chaetotaxy as in Table 11 and Fig. 406. Male genitalia as in genus and species group descriptions and Figs 409–411. Measurements ex Euplectes hordeaceus (n = 5): TL = 1.14–1.22; HL = 0.38–0.41; HW = 0.37–0.42; PRW = 0.21–0.23; PTW = 0.30–0.36; AW = 0.44–0.47.
Female. Abdominal chaetotaxy as in Table 11 and Fig. 407. Subgenital plate roughly triangular, lateral margins irregular distally (Fig. 412). Vulval margin bulging distinctly in median section (Fig. 412), with 3–4 short slender vms on bulging section on each side, and 8–10 thorn-like vss on each side; 5–7 long, slender vos on each side; distal 1–2 vos median to vss. Measurements ex Euplectes hordeaceus (n = 2): TL = 1.33–1.41; HL = 0.42– 0.44; HW = 0.42–0.43; PRW = 0.23 –0.24; PTW = 0.36–0.38; AW = 0.52–0.59.
Etymology. The species epithet is derived from Japanese “ mon ” for “gate”, as the overall shape of the mesosome and parameres (Fig. 409) resemble the stylized shape of the Japanese torii gates.
Type material. Ex Euplectes hordeaceus: Holotype ♂, Lovi, Mole [National Park], Northern Region, Ghana, 26 Aug. 1968, Oxford University Expedition, Brit. Mus. 1969-32 (NHML). Paratypes: 9♂, 4♀, same data as holotype (NHML).
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 page 250, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4313.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/883161