Week 36’s mystery lice, which was posted on the blog a couple weeks ago, are particularly vibrant specimens. I was too busy presenting at the Entomological Collections Network Annual Meeting and attending Entomological Society of America Annual Meeting-more on that later-to post the answer earlier this week. Today, I want to solve the lice mystery!
The lice collected on the Cape ground squirrel are Linognathoides faurei (Bedford, 1920) (Anoplura: Polyplacidae). These lice are distinguished by their many abdominal seta, anterior claws bifid at the apex, elongated, irregular sternal plates, and claw-like projections on the genital plate (Bedford 1920).
This species of lice has been known to parasitize several species of ground squirrels in southern Africa. The Geosciurus inauris (Rodentia: Sciuridae) that our specimens were collected on is characterized by its reddish-brown coarse fur with white lines that extend down the sides of its body, as well as distinctive pinna and lines around the eyes (Skurski and Waterman 2005).
Stay tuned for a new edition of Friday Night Lice next week! For our friends in the United States, have a great Thanksgiving.
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