Harpactrox pontifrons Gustafsson & Bush, new species

(Figs 260–262)

Type host. Harpactes ardens ardens (Temminck, 1826) — Philippine trogon. Type locality. “ Tucay E-el”, Mindanao, Philippines.

Diagnosis. Head shape of Harpactrox pontifrons n. sp. (Fig. 260) intermediate between the other two species in the genus, but as in Ha. loeiensis n. sp. (Fig. 248) the head is slightly wider than long. As in Ha. loeiensis, all mts are of roughly equal length, and the dorsal preantennal suture does not reach dsms. Dorsal sinuous ridge at the osculum found in Ha. pontifrons (Fig. 260) is not present in Ha. loeiensis (Fig. 248). Like in Ha. geminodus n. sp. (Fig. 255), the lateral margins of the clypeo-labral suture are clearly delimited anterior to the pulvinus in Ha. pontifrons, and the ventral anterior plate is much wider than the marginal carina.

Description. Head shape, structure, and chaetotaxy as in genus description and Fig. 260. Ventral anterior plate much wider than marginal carina. Ventral carinae clearly defined anterior to pulvinus. Dorsal preantennal suture reaches ads but not dsms. Clear dorsal thickening present anterior to suture. Preantennal nodi wide and rounded, distorting the lateral head margin just anterior to antennae. All mts of roughly equal length. Gular plate short, indistinct. Thoracic and abdominal segments as in genus description and Fig. 261. Posterior margin of pterothorax strikingly more convergent than in other two species.

Male. Unknown.

Female. Abdominal chaetotaxy as in Table 2 and Fig. 261. Subgenital plate sinuously trapezoidal (Fig. 262). Vulval margin (Fig. 262) gently rounded, with 2 short, slender vms on each side, and 3 short, thorn-like vss on each side; 7–8 long, slender vos on each side; 2 distal vos median to vss. Measurements ex Harpactes ardens ardens (n = 3): TL = 1.79–2.01; HL = 0.38–0.42; HW = 0.44–0.49; PRW = 0.26–0.28; PTW = 0.44–0.48; AW = 0.56 –0.67.

Etymology. The species epithet is derived from Latin “ pontis ” for “bridge” and “ frons ” for “forehead”. This refers to the thickening of the dorsal head plate across the clypeo-labral suture, which forms a “bridge” from one side of the head to the other (Fig. 260).

Type material. Ex Harpactes ardens ardens: Holotype ♀, “Tucay E-el”, Mindanao, Philippines, SUBBM- 1507 (BPBM). Paratypes: 2♀, same data as holotype (PIPeR) [one slide contains unidentified Philopterus s. lat.].

Remarks. Despite not having any male, we describe Harpactrox pontifrons n. sp. as a new species on the basis of the unique preantennal area of the females. Several genera of the Brueelia -complex have species with relatively well-defined dorsal thickenings near the frons (e.g. Indoceoplanetes laurocorythes n. sp.; Fig. 226). We here interpret these thickenings as part of the marginal carina displaced posteriorly, as suggested by the shape of this feature in e.g. Aratricerca cirithra n. sp. (Fig. 170). This is not the case in Ha. pontifrons, where the marginal carina is clearly continuous across the osculum (Fig. 260). No similar structure is found in either of the other two species of Harpactrox (Figs 248, 255) nor, to our knowledge, in any other ischnoceran louse. Females of H. pontifrons are well separated from their congenerics, as described above. The type host of Ha. pontifrons is not uncommon, but decreasing (BirdLife International 2016), and collecting in the Philippines may not be possible in the foreseeable future; hence additional fresh material to find, describe and compare the male with the other two species in the genus may take a long time to become available.