Abstract
The endemic avifauna of Arabia is unique and characteristic through the whole region. Little is known about these birds and their ectoparasites. The Arabian partridge Alectoris melanocephala (Rüppell, 1835) and Philby’s partridge Alectoris philbyi Lowe, 1934 are two endemic species which are distributed through the Sarawat Mountains in Saudi Arabia and Yemen. Captive breeding population of these birds were examined for chewing lice at the National Wildlife Research Center (NWRC) near Ta’if. Only one rare species of louse, Cuculotogaster arabicus (Clay 1938), was found to infest these birds. The occurrence of such species is considered a first record of the genus Cuculotogaster from Saudi Arabia, and the association of C. arabicus with Philby’s partridge is considered a new host/parasite association. The clear diagnostic characters, high definition photos, and drawing of male genitalia are available through this paper.
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References
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Acknowledgments
This work is a very small part of a Ph.D. study of the first author concerning the diversity of chewing lice associated with the bird fauna of Saudi Arabia, supported by a graduate student grant from King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (No. 0003-13-T-A). We gracefully thank the kind support and help given to this study by the King Saud University, Deanship of Scientific Research and College of Food and Agriculture Science Research Center. Great appreciations are also due to HH Prince Bander Bin Saud Bin Mohammad, the president of the Saudi Wildlife Authority for his sponsorship of the study of ectoparasites of wild birds in the kingdom. Also, we would like to thank the team of the National Wildlife Research Center (NWRC) for their help during field work.
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Nasser, M.G.ED., Alahmed, A. & Shobrak, M. New host/parasite record for very rare chewing louse Cuculotogaster arabicus (Clay, 1938) (Phthiraptera: Ischnocera) on endemic mountain partridges of Arabian Peninsula. Parasitol Res 115, 4433–4436 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-016-5219-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-016-5219-7