Suborder ISCHNOCERA
Compiler and date details
R.L. Palma, Museum of New Zealand, Wellington, New Zealand S.C. Barker, Department of Parasitology, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
Introduction
The Ischnocera are a large assemblage of species which are morphologically very diverse. Lyal (1985) discussed the relationships of this suborder, concluding that it is not possible to demonstrate a holophyletic origin. Although a few features of the mouthparts are unique to ischnoceran species, they are recognised mainly by the absence of certain characters rather than their presence (Clay 1970; Lyal 1985). Calaby & Murray's (1991) key allows Ischnocera to be distinguished from other lice found in Australia.
The subdivision of the Ischnocera into families is controversial. Eichler (1963) proposed 21 families and Lyal (1985) recognised five, while Hopkins & Clay (1952) listed only three. We follow the last authors, and recognise two ischnoceran families in Australia, the Philopteridae that parasitise many species of birds, and the introduced Trichodectidae that parasitise sheep, goats, cattle, buffalo, horses, dogs and cats. The third family, Heptapsogasteridae, contains species living only on tinamiform birds, a group endemic to the Americas (Carriker 1936, 1944).
General References
Calaby, J.H. & Murray, M.D. 1991. Phthiraptera. pp. 421-428 in CSIRO (ed.). The Insects of Australia. A textbook for students and research workers. Melbourne : Melbourne University Press Vol. 1 xiii 542 pp.
Carriker, M.A. 1936. Studies in the neotropical Mallophaga, Part I. - Lice of the Tinamous. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 88: 45-218 pls 1-32
Carriker, M.A. 1944. Studies in neotropical Mallophaga (III). [Tinamidae No. 2]. Proceedings of the United States National Museum 95: 81-233
Clay, T. 1970. The Amblycera (Phthiraptera: Insecta). Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History) Entomology 25(3): 75-98 pls 1-5
Eichler, W. 1963. Mallophaga. pp. viii 1-290 in Bronns, H.G. (ed.). Klassen und Ordnungen des Tierreichs. Arthropoda. III. Insecta. 7b, Phthiraptera. Leipzig : Akademische Verlagsgesellschaft, Geest & Portig K.-G
Hopkins, G.H.E. & Clay, T. 1952. A Checklist of the Genera & Species of Mallophaga. London : Trustees of the British Museum 362 pp.
Lyal, C.H.C. 1985. Phylogeny and classification of the Psocodea, with particular reference to the lice (Psocodea: Phthiraptera). Systematic Entomology 10: 145-165