ON THE IDENTITY OF ESTHIOPTERUM TATAUPA CARRIKER, 1936 (PSOCODEA: PHTHIRAPTERA: ISCHNOCERA): A FURNARIID LOUSE SPECIES.

Abstract

Reexamination of the holotype of the louse species Esthiopterum tataupa Carriker, 1936 demonstrated that the species belongs to the genus Furnariphilus Price and Clayton, 1995 and is conspecific with Furnariphilus parkeri Price and Clayton, 1995. The Tataupa tinamou Crypturellus t. tataupa (Temminck, 1815), originally listed as the type host of this species, is not the true host. This association likely resulted from contamination during Carriker's 1934 Bolivian collections, when a furnariid (Sclerurus albigularis albicollis Carriker, 1935) was obtained at the same locality. The present study refines both the taxonomy and host association of this louse species and underscores the importance of continued critical evaluation of historical type specimens and refined morphological analysis. It also underscores the value of well-documented collections of hosts and parasites with associated field notes for assessing taxonomy and documenting ecological and evolutionary relationships of hosts and their parasites.