Last week we featured a mystery louse collected in Irangi, Congo (now Democratic Republic of the Congo). From what I have found, Irangi was a field station in the province of North Kivu when this specimen was collected. The area is famous for its endangered mountain gorilla population and fortunately, not for its lice. However, that did not stop the collection of this specimen, Johnsonpthirus cholortalpae (Benoit, 1961) (Anoplura: Polyplacidae).
According to Durden & Musser 1994, there are five species in the genus Johnsonpthirus, whose hosts are tree squirrels. Among the more noteworthy characters of Johnsonpthirus chlorotalpae are the pronounced setae of its squared head and antennal regions, which I realize are difficult to see from this slide (Kim & Adler 1982).
While I could not find a photo of the Boehm’s bush squirrel that was the host, as I alluded to last week, I did find a photo of another species of African bush squirrel in the genus Paraxerus (Forsyth Major 1893), synonymous with Tamiscus.
This concludes another segment of Friday Night Lice. Please stay tuned for more updates from the Frost!
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