Rodent louse diversity,phylogeny, and cospeciation in the Manu Biosphere Reserve,Peru

We investigated the diversity, cophylogenetic relationships, and biogeography of hoplopleurid sucking lice (Phthiraptera: Anoplura) parasitizing rodents (Muridae: Sigmodontinae) in the Manu National Park and Biosphere Reserve. Our morphological and molecular studies reveal that 15 distinct louse species parasitize 19 rodent species. Three of these louse species are new to science, and all but two of the host associations were previously unknown. We find that hoplopleurid lice in South America parasitize multiple host species across a large geographic area, and that Peru represents a new geographic locality for almost all the louse species collected in the present study. Phylogenetic analyses of mitochondrial and nuclear data reveal that the louse family Hoplopleuridae and the genera Hoplopleura and Pterophthirus are not monophyletic, and lice do not appear to group by host tribe, collecting locality, or collection elevation. The lack of monophyly for these apparently natural groups (taxonomic, locality, and elevation) indicates that host switching with or without parasite speciation may be prevalent among hoplopleurid lice. © 2008 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2008, 95 , 598–610.     

中国云南吸虱昆虫物种多样性及群落结构研究(英文)

在对云南省9个县(市)抽样调查的基础上,本文对境内小型哺乳动物(小兽)体表吸虱昆虫物种多样性及群落结构进行了研究。物种多样性用物种丰富度表示,多样性指数及均匀度计算采用Shannon-Wiener方法。所捕获的2745只小兽经分类鉴定隶属啮齿目、食虫目、攀目、兔形目和食肉目5个目中的10科、25属、41种。从各种小兽宿主体表共采集到吸虱昆虫18165只,经分类鉴定隶属4科、6属、22种,其种类明显少于宿主种类。几乎每种小兽宿主体表都有固定的吸虱种类寄生,但吸虱种类数很少(1-4种)。动物分类上接近的宿主,其体表的优势吸虱种类基本相同。研究结果表明,小型哺乳动物体表吸虱昆虫的物种多样性很低,群落结构十分简单。研究同时提示,吸虱昆虫与小兽宿主之间可能存在高度一致的协同进化关系。     

中国云南洱海周边小兽体表吸虱多样性

在2003—2004年对云南大理洱海周边小兽体表寄生吸虱进行了调查,诱捕小兽3303只,隶属4目7科、15属、21种,共收集14635只吸虱,共计5科、6属、21种。调查点位于洱海周边3个不同方位,恰好处于无量山（洱海东部）、哀牢山（洱海南部）和苍山（洱海西部）3座山的连接地段,由于洱海的天然隔离使这3个方位形成了同地域（经度、纬度、海拔和动物地理区划相同）异生境的地理景观。此项研究的目的是调查同地域异生境里小兽体表吸虱在物种多样性、丰富度、群落结构、相似性和分布。结果表明吸虱的物种多样性低,群落结构简单。吸虱的丰富度、分布和物种多样性随着宿主和生境的不同而存在着显著的差异,这可能暗示着生态环境影响着吸虱和它相对应的小兽宿主的构成和分布。某种宿主经常有某种固定的吸虱,在动物分类上近缘关系较近的小兽宿主,其体表昆虫群落相似性较高。洱海周边不同方位同种小兽宿主上的吸虱物种相同,这个结果强烈暗示着吸虱与其对应宿主之间有明显的协同进化关系。     

On the ubiquity and phylogeny of Wolbachia in lice

Wolbachia are intracellular bacteria that occur in an estimated 20% of arthropod species. They are of broad interest because they profoundly affect the reproductive fitness of diverse host taxa. Here we document the apparent ubiquity and diversity of Wolbachia in the insect orders Anoplura (sucking lice) and Mallophaga (chewing lice), by detecting single or multiple infections in each of 25 tested populations of lice, representing 19 species from 15 genera spanning eight taxonomic families. Phylogenetic analyses indicate a high diversity of Wolbachia in lice, as evidenced by the identification of 39 unique strains. Some of these strains are apparently unique to lice, whereas others are similar to strains that infect other insect taxa. Wolbachia are transmitted from infected females to their offspring via egg cytoplasm, such that similar species of lice are predicted to have similar strains of Wolbachia. This predicted pattern is not supported in the current study and may reflect multiple events of recent horizontal transmission between host species. At present, there is no known mechanism that would allow for this latter mode of transmission to and within species of lice.     

Phylogeny and classification, origins, and evolution of host associations of lice

Lice are highly successful ectoparasites. Most species of mammals and birds are infested by at least 1 but up to 6 species of lice. Current opinion is that lice evolved from free-living Psocoptera (booklice, barklice and psocids). It is generally agreed that there are 4 main groups of lice: Anoplura, Amblycera, Ischnocera and Rhyncophthirina. In contrast, there is no agreement on the phylogenetic relationships of these groups and their classification. In particular, there is much debate over the validity of the taxon Mallophaga, which is almost certainly paraphyletic. For many years the sister-group of the Boopiidae, which almost exclusively infest Australasian marsupials, was thought to be a group of lice that now infest marsupials in South America. This, however, is almost certainly incorrect; the sister-group of the Boopiidae probably contains bird-infesting lice from the Menoponidae (Amblycera). Thus, menoponid lice transferred from birds to mammals and from these arose the Boopiidae. Transfers of lice between mammals and birds have occurred on other occasions during the evolution of the lice; 2 of the 4 main groups of lice, the Ischnocera and Amblycera, contain families that infest birds and families that infest mammals. Strict cospeciation and coevolution was thought to predominate among the lice; however, detailed studies indicate this to be incorrect. Consequently, the axiom that lice and their hosts invariably coevolve should be abandoned. Ironically, biologists may learn more about the evolutionary biology of hosts when host-switching has occurred. Some evidence exists for competition between species of lice; this interaction may determine whether or not the transfer of a species of louse to an atypical hose (a potential host-switch) is successful. Thus, the extincion of populations of lice (that result in uninfested hosts) may facilitate host-switching and perhaps the evolution of new taxa of lice. In contrast, extinction of hosts unfortunately often leads to the extinction of species of lice.     

青海长尾仓鼠吸虱一新种（吸虱亚目：多板虱科）

采自青海乌兰县铜普长尾仓鼠的吸虱经鉴定为一新种,仓鼠多板虱,它与采自我国毛足鼠的相近种裘氏多板虱的区别在于头型及其侧后角的刚毛,腹部无序及外生殖器的不同。     

真颚虱属一新种记述：虱目：多板虱科

本文记述采自内蒙古自治区心颅跳鼠寄生吸虱一新种,心颅跳鼠真颚虱Eulinognathus cardiocrainius sp.nov.其特征在于1.头腹面无棘状小突;2胸板近五边形而有硬化的边框;侧背片位于腹节Ⅱ—Ⅵ,其侧后角均尖,细长刚毛各二根,不等长,但均长于所附的侧背片。 文中并指出Eulinognathus euchoreutei Chin,1984应为E.euchoreutae Cais,1977的同物异名。     

Abrocomaphthirus hoplai, a new genus and species of sucking louse from Chile and its relevance to zoogeography

Both sexes of Abrocomaphthirus hoplai, new genus and new species (Anoplura: Polyplacidae), are described and illustrated. The endemic Chilean chinchilla rat Abrocoma bennetti Waterhouse (Rodentia: Abrocomidae) is the type host. The definition of the family Polyplacidae is amended to accommodate the new genus. Polyplax longa (Werneck), also referred to in the literature as Neohaematopinus longus Werneck, is reassigned to Abrocomaphthirus. The host of A. longus comb.n., is Abrocoma cinerea Thomas, another chinchilla rat, which inhabits parts of Argentina, Bolivia, Chile and Peru. The erection of Abrocomaphthirus as a distinct genus has important zoogeographical and evolutionary implications. The tenuous anomaly of P. longa being the sole native representative of the genus Polyplax in South America, possibly with African affinities, is now refuted. Instead, partial colonization of the neotropics by native species of both Polyplax and Neohaematopinus appears to have been relatively recent and from North America. The phylogenetic affinities of Abrocomaphthirus are unknown, but it appears to be closely related to other, more ancient, native South American polyplacid louse genera, such as Cuyana, Eulinognathus, Galeophthirus, and Lagidiophthirus. Arguments are presented in support of an ancestral zoogeographical link to Africa for these louse genera.     

中国吸虱研究X.甲胁虱属分种检索表及一新种记述（吸虱亚目：甲胁虱科）

本文编撰我国甲胁虱属２２种吸虱的检索表,并描述采自云南的解氏甲胁虱,新种ＨｏｐｌｏｐｌｅｕｒａｘｉｅｉＣｈｉｎ,ｓｐ．ｎｏｖ。