Four new species of Brueelia Kéler, 1936 (Phthiraptera: Ischnocera) from African hosts, with a redescription of Nirmus bicurvatus Piaget, 1880

Abstract

Four new species of Brueelia Kéler, 1936 are described and illustrated. All of them parasitize African endemic host species in the families Passeridae, Ploceidae, and Estrildidae (Passeriformes). They are: Brueelia pofadderensis sp. nov. ex Passer melanurus damarensis Reichenow, 1902 and P. m. vicinus Clancey, 1958; B. semiscalaris sp. nov. ex Granatina granatina (Linnaeus, 1758); B. sima sp. nov. ex Malimbus nitens (Gray, 1831); B. terpsichore sp. nov. ex Euplectes jacksoni (Sharpe, 1891) and E. progne delamerei (Shelley, 1903). In addition, Brueelia bicurvata (Piaget, 1880) is redescribed and reillustrated from non-type material. A summary of all published records of lice in the Brueelia complex from Africa since 1980 is provided. We also estimate the unknown diversity of African species of Brueelia based on an index of host specificity calculated for each host family independently. The unknown diversity is estimated to be over 1000 species of Brueelia from African hosts, compared to the < 50 species in this genus currently recorded from Africa.