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Psocodea

Parasitic Lice (=Phthiraptera), Book Lice, and Bark Lice

Emilie Bess, Vince Smith, Charles Lienhard, and Kevin P. Johnson
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Antarctophthirus microchir
taxon links [up-->]Trogiomorpha [up-->]Psocomorpha [up-->]Troctomorpha [down<--]Hemipteroid Assemblage Interpreting the tree
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Containing group: Hemipteroid Assemblage

Discussion of Phylogenetic Relationships

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Summary of the phylogeny of Psocodea based on mophological (Yoshizawa & Johnson 2006) and molecular data (Johnson et al. 2004) shows evidence for paraphyly of Psocoptera. These analyses indicate that parasitic lice evolved from within the Psocoptera suborder Troctomorpha.

References

Clay, T. 1949. Some problems in the evolution of a group of ectoparasites. Evolution 3: 279-299.

Clay, T. 1951. An introduction to a classification of the avian Ischnocera (Mallophaga): Part I. Transactions of the Royal Entomological Society of London 102,2:171-195.

Clay, T. 1970. The Amblycera (Phthiraptera: Insecta). Bulletin of the British Museum of Natural History Entomology 25: 75-98.

Demastes, J. W. and M. S. Hafner 1993. Cospeciation of pocket gophers (Geomys) and their chewing lice (Geomydoecus). Journal of Mammalogy 74(3): 521-530.

Durden, L. A. and G. G. Musser 1994. The sucking lice (Insecta, Anoplura) of the world: A taxonomic checklist with records of mammalian hosts and geographic distributions. Bulletin of the British Museum of Natural History 218: 90 pp.

Hafner, M. S. and R. D. M. Page 1995. Molecular phylogenies and host-parasite cospeciation: gophers and lice as a model system. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B. 349: 77-83.

Hopkins, G. H. E. and T. Clay 1952. A checklist of the genera and species of mallophaga. London, British Museum of Natural History.

Johnson, K. P., Yoshizawa, K. and V. S. Smith. 2004. Multiple origins of parasitism in lice. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London 271: 1771-1776.

Lakshminarayana, K. V. 1986. Data book for the study of chewing lice (Phthiraptera : Insecta). Records of the Zoological Survey of India: Miscellaneous Publication, Occasional Paper 81: 1-63.

Lyal, C. H. C. 1985. A cladistic analysis and classification of trichodectid mammal lice (Phthiraptera: Ischnocera). Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History) 51(3): 187-346.

Page, D. M., R. D. Price, et al. 1995. Phylogeny of Geomydoecus and Thomomydoecus pocket gopher lice (Phthiraptera: Trichodectidae) infered from cladistic analysis of adult and first instar morphology. Systematic Entomology 20: 129-143.

Page, R. D. M. 1994. Parallel phylogenies: Reconstructing the history of host-parasite assemblages. Cladistics 10: 155-173.

Pilgrim, R. L. C. and R. L. Palma 1982. A list of the chewing lice (Insecta: Mallophaga) from birds in New Zealand. National Museum of New Zealand Miscellaneous Series 6: 1-32.

Rothschild, M. and T. Clay (1952). Fleas, flukes & Cuckoos: A study of bird ectoparasites. Colins (New Naturalist Series).London.

Rozsa, L. 1993. Speciation patterns of ectoparasites and "straggling" lice. International Journal for Parasitiology 23(7): 859-864.

Yoshizawa, K. and K. P. Johnson. 2006. Morphology of male genitalia in lice and their relatives and phylogenetic implications. Systematic Entomology 31: 350-361.

Information on the Internet

Title Illustrations
Click on an image to view larger version & data in a new window
Click on an image to view larger version & data in a new window
Antarctophthirus microchir
Scientific Name Antarctophthirus microchir
Specimen Condition Dead Specimen
Identified By Vince Smith
Sex Male
Life Cycle Stage Adult
Copyright © 2006
Scientific Name Mesopsocus unipunctatus
Specimen Condition Live Specimen
Identified By K. Yoshizawa
Sex Female
Life Cycle Stage micropterous adult
View anterolateral
Size 3mm
Copyright © 2006 Kazunori Yoshizawa
Scientific Name Liposcelis bostrychophila
Location Urbana, Illinois
Specimen Condition Dead Specimen
Identified By E. Mockford
Sex Female
Life Cycle Stage adult
Body Part head
View anterior/lateral
Size 2mm body length
Copyright © 2006 Emilie Bess
Scientific Name Psococerastis sp.
Specimen Condition Live Specimen
Identified By K. Yoshizawa
Life Cycle Stage adult
View lateral
Size 4mm
Copyright © 2006 Kazunori Yoshizawa
Scientific Name Haematomyzus elephantis
Specimen Condition Dead Specimen
Sex Male
Life Cycle Stage adult
Copyright © 2002 K.C. Emerson Entomology Museum, Stillwater Oklahoma
About This Page

Emilie Bess
Illinois Natural History Survey, Champaign, Illinois, USA


The Natural History Museum

Charles Lienhard
Museum of Natural History, Geneva, Switzerland

Kevin P. Johnson
Illinois Natural History Survey, Champaign, Illinois, USA

Correspondence regarding this page should be directed to Emilie Bess at , Vince Smith at , Charles Lienhard at , and Kevin P. Johnson at

All Rights Reserved.

Citing this page:

Bess, Emilie, Vince Smith, Charles Lienhard, and Kevin P. Johnson. 2006. Psocodea. Parasitic Lice (=Phthiraptera), Book Lice, and Bark Lice. Version 08 October 2006 (under construction). http://tolweb.org/Psocodea/8235/2006.10.08 in The Tree of Life Web Project, http://tolweb.org/

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