New records and a new species of chewing lice (Phthiraptera, Amblycera, Ischnocera) found on Columbidae (Columbiformes) in Pakistan

Abstract The chewing lice (Phthiraptera) of Columbidae (Columbiformes) from Pakistan are studied. Six species of chewing lice with new host records are recorded and one new species of the genus Colpocephalum is described from Columba livia in the Karachi region. All the columbid chewing lice from Pakistan are keyed out and the new species is illustrated and compared with the closest allied species.


Introduction
The study of chewing lice in Pakistan has been neglected for many years, especially in the Sindh region of Pakistan. During 1940s to 1950s, Ansari published his work on lice from Pakistan, but his studies were restricted to Lyallpur (now Faisalabad), in  Thorax (Figs 1-3, 7). Pronotal carina very thickly sclerotized; pronotal seta 2 minute peg-like setae; lateral to posterior margin of pronotum with four long and at least two short setae; prosternal plate ( fig.7) weakly developed, short, with posterior margin convex and lateral margins absent, one pair of small microsetae anterior to the plate present; posterior margin of metanotum straight, with 8-10 normal fine setae, arranged equally without any gape; femur III with two ctenidia.
Remarks. Colpocephalum afrozeae were collected from Columba livia on which C. turbinatum has been reported previously. The two species of the genus Colpocephalum of C. livia are different from each other. C. afrozeae has the anterior margin of head broadly convex; anterior marginal carina thick; oculo-occipital carina thick; prothorax with two short marginal setae; femur III with two ctenidia; female tergite II with long tergocentral setae; postspiracular setae long on tergites II-III and VI-VIII; lateral plates of male genitalia very short; lateroposterior points of genital sclerite large and curved; median process reduced; female genital reticulation invisible; vulva medially concave; anus narrow and transverse.
Colpocephalum afrozeae has also some similarities with Colpocephalum arfakiani Price and Beer, but they have morphological differences, which consist of a thin anterior marginal carina; five long pronotal marginal setae; tergite II of female divided; tergite VIII with small triangular median piece; anal opening broad, with light fringe of short setae; male genital sclerite without latero-posterior points and long lateral plates are found in C. arfakiani whereas the anterior margin very thick; four pronotal marginal setae long; tergite II of female complete; tergite VIII with large trapezoidal piece; anal opening narrow and transverse, with dense fringe of short setae in anterior margin and thick, long setae on posterior margin; male genital sclerite with long and curved latero-posterior points and short lateral plates are found in C. afrozeae.
Etymology. The present species is named after Mrs Hussan Afroze, mother of the first author.

Discussion
This study is the first survey of chewing lice of family Columbidae in Pakistan. Among the nine species found in this region, six species are recorded for the first time. Four of them, Campanulotes compar, Colpocephalum turbinatum, Columbicola columbae and Hohorstiella lata, are cosmopolitan (Emerson 1972, Ledger 1980, Mey 2003, Naz and Rizvi 2004, Naz et al. 2010. Only two species of the genus Colpocephalum have been recorded from Columbidae, which are C. longicaudum Nitzsch 1866 on Streptopelia chinensis tigrina (Temminck) and C. turbinatum on Columba livia Gmelin Beer 1963, Price et al. 2003). Kellogg and Paine (1914) have reported C. longicaudum from Columba livia. Price and Beer (1963) have recorded C. turbinatum from various species of Falconiformes. Ansari (1951) reported C. turbinatum from Milvus migrans govinda Sykes (Accipitridae: Falconiformes) with the synonym C. tricinctum, in Lyallpur, Pakistan (Lakshminarayana 1979). Here, this species is reported from Columba livia in Karachi, Pakistan. Galloway and Palma (2008) showed that some species of lice can be overlooked for many decades even when they parasitize common hosts.
Columbicola tschulyschman is also a regular pigeon parasite. It is known from three species of Columba including C. livia neglecta, which is also found in Pakistan (Grimmett et al. 1999, Naz et al. 2010) and is probably still isolated from feral pigeons in Pakistan (Johnston 1996). There is no record of this louse species from feral pigeon (Adams et al. 2005).
The presence of Hohorstiella streptopeliae on Columba livia represents a case of straggling, because its type host is Streptopelia turtur arenicola (Hartlert) (Price et al. 2003). Ansari (1947) recorded Turturicola salimalii on three species of Streptopelia and on Columba livia from different regions of India, but he also collected this species from Passeriformes and Psittaciformes and suggested these hosts as likely stragglers.