Chewing lice (Phthiraptera: Amblycera, Ischnocera) species found on birds in Turkey, with new records and a new host association

Abstract

This study was carried out between 2011 and 2014 to detect chewing louse species found on birds in Turkey. For this purpose, 246 birds were examined for lice. Thirty-three birds (13.4%) were found to be infested by 25 louse species; 17 Ischnoceran species belonging to 15 genera and 8 Amblyceran species belonging to 5 genera were recorded in this study. In this study, usually 1 or 2 louse species were detected on a single bird, and in only 2 cases, 3 louse species were found on the same bird. Rhynonirmus helvolus (Burmeister, 1838) and Saemundssonia sp. (nymph: N) from the Eurasian Woodcock (Scolopax rusticola), Penenirmus silvicultrix (Mey, 1982) from the Common Redstart (Phoenicurus phoenicurus), Penenirmus longuliceps (Blagovestchensky, 1940) from the Cetti's Warbler (Cettia cetti), Brueelia iliaci (Denny, 1842) from the Redwing (Turdus iliacus), Penenirmus pikulai (Balat, 1981) from the Barred Warbler (Sylvia nisoria), Cuculoecus latifrons (Denny, 1842) from the Common Cuckoo (Cuculus canorus), and Brueelia sp. (N) and Penenirmus sp. (N) from the Black-headed Bunting (Emberiza melanocephala) were reported for the first time in Turkey. In addition, Cuclotogaster heterographus (Nitzsch [In Giebel], 1866) was collected from a turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) for the first time anywhere in the world.