Molecular phylogenetics of the sucking louse genus Lemurpediculus (Insecta: Phthiraptera), ectoparasites of lemurs, with descriptions of three new species

Andrea Springer; Lance A Durden; Frederik Kiene; Annette Klein; Romule Rakotondravony; Julian Ehlers; Stephen E Greiman; Marina B Blanco; Sarah Zohdy; Sharon E Kessler; Christina Strube; Ute Radespiel

doi:10.1016/j.ijppaw.2023.02.002

Molecular phylogenetics of the sucking louse genus Lemurpediculus (Insecta: Phthiraptera), ectoparasites of lemurs, with descriptions of three new species

Int J Parasitol Parasites Wildl. 2023 Feb 9:20:138-152. doi: 10.1016/j.ijppaw.2023.02.002. eCollection 2023 Apr.

Authors

Andrea Springer¹, Lance A Durden², Frederik Kiene^{3

4}, Annette Klein³, Romule Rakotondravony^{5

6}, Julian Ehlers⁷, Stephen E Greiman², Marina B Blanco^{8

9}, Sarah Zohdy¹⁰, Sharon E Kessler¹¹, Christina Strube¹, Ute Radespiel³

Affiliations

¹ Institute for Parasitology, Centre for Infection Medicine, University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, Buenteweg 17, 30559, Hanover, Germany.
² Department of Biology, Georgia Southern University, 4324 Old Register Road, Statesboro, GA, 30458, USA.
³ Institute of Zoology, University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, Buenteweg 17, 30559, Hannover, Germany.
⁴ Clinic for Swine and Small Ruminants, Forensic Medicine and Ambulatory Service, University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, 30173, Hannover, Germany.
⁵ École Doctorale Ecosystèmes Naturels (EDEN), University of Mahajanga, 5 Rue Georges V - Immeuble KAKAL, Mahajanga Be, B.P. 652, Mahajanga 401, Madagascar.
⁶ Faculté des Sciences, de Technologies et de l'Environnement, University of Mahajanga, 5 Rue Georges V - Immeuble KAKAL, Mahajanga Be, B.P. 652. Mahajanga 401, Madagascar.
⁷ Animal Ecology and Conservation, Institute of Cell and Systems Biology of Animals, University of Hamburg, Martin-Luther-King-Platz 3, 20146, Hamburg, Germany.
⁸ Duke Lemur Center, Durham, NC, 27705, USA.
⁹ Department of Biology, Duke University, Durham, NC, 27708, USA.
¹⁰ School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences, 602 Duncan Drive, Auburn, AL, 36849, USA.
¹¹ Department of Psychology, Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of Stirling, Stirling, FK9 4LA, Scotland, UK.

Abstract

Sucking lice live in intimate association with their hosts and often display a high degree of host specificity. The present study investigated sucking lice of the genus Lemurpediculus from six mouse lemur (Microcebus) and two dwarf lemur (Cheirogaleus) species endemic to the island of Madagascar, considered a biodiversity hotspot. Louse phylogenetic trees were created based on cytochrome C oxidase subunit I (COI), elongation factor 1α (EF1α) and internal transcribed spacer 1 (ITS1) sequences. While clustering according to host species was generally observed for COI and ITS1, suggesting high host specificity of the examined lice, EF1α sequences alone did not distinguish between lice of different Microcebus species, possibly due to rather recent divergence. As bootstrap support for basal tree structure was rather low, further data are necessary to resolve the evolutionary history of louse-mouse lemur associations. Three new species of sucking lice are described: Lemurpediculus zimmermanni sp. Nov. From Microcebus ravelobensis, Lemurpediculus gerpi sp.nov. from Microcebus gerpi, and Lemurpediculus tsimanampesotsae sp. nov. from Microcebus griseorufus. These new species are compared with all known congeneric species and identifying features are illustrated for all known species of Lemurpediculus.

Keywords: Anoplura; COI, cytochrome C oxidase subunit I; Cheirogaleidae; Co-speciation; EF1α, elongation factor 1α; Host specificity; ITS1, internal transcribed spacer 1; Madagascar; Microcebus; SEM, scanning electron microscopy.