''Colpocephalum'' is a genus of

chewing louse The Mallophaga are a possibly paraphyletic section Section, Sectioning or Sectioned may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * Section (music), a complete, but not independent, musical idea * Section (typography), a subdivision, especial ...

Christian Ludwig Nitzsch Christian Ludwig Nitzsch (3 September 1782 – 16 August 1837) was a German zoologist. He is best remembered for his approach to classifying birds on the basis of their feather tract distributions or pterylosis of their young. Career He was profes ...

named the genus in 1818. The Plenary Powers of the

International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature The International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN) is an organization dedicated to "achieving stability and sense in the scientific naming of animals". Founded in 1895, it currently comprises 26 commissioners from 20 countries. Orga ...

selected ''Colpocephalum zebra'' as its

type species In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specimen ...

in the 1950s. There are approximately 135 species in this genus, and they are

ectoparasites Parasitism is a close relationship between species, where one organism, the parasite, lives on or inside another organism, the host, causing it some harm, and is adapted structurally to this way of life. The entomologist E. O. Wilson has ...

of birds in at least a dozen different

orders Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood * Heterarchy, a system of organization wherein the elements have the potential to be ranked a number of d ...

Taxonomic history and the type species

''Colpocephalum'' was

circumscribed In geometry, the circumscribed circle or circumcircle of a polygon is a circle that passes through all the vertices of the polygon. The center of this circle is called the circumcenter and its radius is called the circumradius. Not every polyg ...

in 1818. Nitzsch classified this taxon as a subgenus of the genus ''Liotheum''. He included four species, which in his taxonomy were called ''L.'' (''C.'') ''zebra'', ''L.'' (''C.'') ''flavescens'', ''L.'' (''C.'') ''subaequale'', and ''L.'' (''C.'') ''ochraceum''. The first three species were ''

nomina nuda In taxonomy, a ''nomen nudum'' ('naked name'; plural ''nomina nuda'') is a designation which looks exactly like a scientific name of an organism, and may have originally been intended to be one, but it has not been published with an adequate descr ...

''; only the last was accompanied with an indication to a previously-published illustration, namely a 17th-century illustration by

Francesco Redi Francesco Redi (18 February 1626 – 1 March 1697) was an Italian physician, naturalist, biologist, and poet. He is referred to as the "founder of experimental biology", and as the "father of modern parasitology". He was the first person to cha ...

. He wrote the indication as "Pulex avis pluvialis Redi exp. fig. sup." In order to keep this name valid,

Theresa Clay Theresa Rachel "Tess" Clay (7 February 1911 – 17 March 1995) was an English entomologist. She was introduced to zoology by her older relative, the ornithologist and adventurer Richard Meinertzhagen, with whom she had an unusually close relati ...

and George Henry Evans Hopkins restricted

Carl Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the ...

1758 Events January–March * January 1 – Swedish biologist Carl Linnaeus (Carl von Linné) publishes in Stockholm the first volume (''Animalia'') of the 10th edition of Systema Naturae, 10th edition of ''Systema Naturae'', the sta ...

name ''Pediculus charadrii'' to only the bottom figure of Redi's plate. Strictly applying the

ICZN Code The International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN) is a widely accepted convention in zoology that rules the formal scientific naming of organisms treated as animals. It is also informally known as the ICZN Code, for its publisher, the ...

, the

should have been ''Liotheum'' (''Colpocephalum'') ''ochraceum'', as it was the only

available name In zoological nomenclature, an available name is a scientific name for a taxon of animals that has been published conforming to all the mandatory provisions of the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature for the establishment of a zoological ...

included in the original circumscription. However, in 1906, Louis Georges Neumann designated "''Liotheum'' (''Colpocephalum'') ''zebra'' " as the type species for this taxon instead. Other phthirapterists followed Neumann's designation. In 1948, Hopkins petitioned the

(ICZN) to officially allow this species to remain the genus's type species instead of "''Liotheum'' (''Colpocephalum'') ''ochraceum''; this was published in 1951. Hopkins also notes that ''L.'' (''C.'') ''ochraceum'' is

congeneric Congener may refer to: * A thing or person of the same kind as another, or of the same group. * Congener (biology), organisms within the same genus. * Congener (chemistry), related chemicals, e.g., elements in the same group of the periodic table. ...

with ''Colpocephalum uniseriatum'' , the type species of ''

Actornithophilus ''Actornithophilus'' is a genus of louse in the family Amblycera. It was circumscribed by Gordon Floyd Ferris in 1916. Its species are ectoparasites of birds in the order Charadriiformes Charadriiformes (, from ''Charadrius'', the type genus ...

'', which would further complicate the situation. As the species ''C. zebra'' only became valid with

Hermann Burmeister Karl Hermann Konrad Burmeister (also known as Carlos Germán Conrado Burmeister) (15 January 1807 – 2 May 1892) was a German Argentine zoologist, entomologist, herpetologist, botany, botanist, and coleopterologist. He served as a professor at ...

species description A species description is a formal description of a newly discovered species, usually in the form of a scientific paper. Its purpose is to give a clear description of a new species of organism and explain how it differs from species that have be ...

of ''Colpocephalum zebra'' in 1838, he requested that the Plenary Powers of the ICZN designate ''Colpocephalum zebra'' as the type species of ''Colpocephalum'' in order to "avoid disastrous confusion." Prior to petitioning the ICZN, Hopkins asked other experts in Mallophaga for their opinion on this matter. He received support from W. Büttiker, T. Clay, W. Eichler, , , W. J. Jellison, S. v. Kéler, R. Meinertzhagen, E. O'Mahony, G. B. Thompson and F. L. Werneck; he received opposition from J. Bequaert and J. E. Webb, who both opposed the use of Plenary Powers in general. Later support came from

Ernst Mayr Ernst Walter Mayr (; 5 July 1904 – 3 February 2005) was one of the 20th century's leading evolutionary biologists. He was also a renowned Taxonomy (biology), taxonomist, tropical explorer, ornithologist, Philosophy of biology, philosopher o ...

. In 1952, the ICZN voted 17 to 0 in favor of Hopkins's proposal. The members of the commission who voted affirmatively were, in the order their ballots were received, N. D. Riley, E. M. Hering, W. T. Calman, J. R. Dymond, , P. B. Bonnet, H. E. Vokes, A. do Amaral, J. Pearson, J. C. Bradley, F. Hemming, T. Esaki, H. Lemche, R. Mertens, Á. Cabrera, N. R. Stoll, and H. Boschma. A ballot was not received from T. Jaczewski, the remaining member of the commission. The decision was published as part of Opinion 342 in 1955.

Biology

Species in this genus parasitize birds of at least 13 orders, including: *

Accipitriformes The Accipitriformes (; from Latin ''accipiter''/''accipitri-'' "hawk", and New Latin ''-formes'' "having the form of") are an order of birds that includes most of the diurnal birds of prey, including hawks, eagles, vultures, and kites, but not f ...

Ciconiiformes Storks are large, long-legged, long-necked wading birds with long, stout bills. They belong to the family called Ciconiidae, and make up the order Ciconiiformes . Ciconiiformes previously included a number of other families, such as herons an ...

(storks) *

Columbiformes Columbidae () is a bird family consisting of doves and pigeons. It is the only family in the order Columbiformes. These are stout-bodied birds with short necks and short slender bills that in some species feature fleshy ceres. They primarily ...

(pigeons) *

Cuculiformes Cuckoos are birds in the Cuculidae family, the sole taxon in the order Cuculiformes . The cuckoo family includes the common or European cuckoo, roadrunners, koels, malkohas, couas, coucals and anis. The coucals and anis are sometimes separa ...

(cuckoos) *

Falconiformes The order Falconiformes () is represented by the extant family Falconidae (falcons and caracaras) and a handful of enigmatic Paleogene species. Traditionally, the other bird of prey families Cathartidae (New World vultures and condors), Sagitt ...

(falcons) *

Galliformes Galliformes is an order of heavy-bodied ground-feeding birds that includes turkeys, chickens, quail, and other landfowl. Gallinaceous birds, as they are called, are important in their ecosystems as seed dispersers and predators, and are often ...

(gamefowl) *

Gruiformes The Gruiformes are an order (biology), order containing a considerable number of living and extinct bird family (biology), families, with a widespread geographical diversity. Gruiform means "crane-like". Traditionally, a number of wading and t ...

Passeriformes A passerine () is any bird of the order Passeriformes (; from Latin 'sparrow' and '-shaped'), which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds, passerines are distinguished from other orders of birds by t ...

(passerines) *

Pelecaniformes The Pelecaniformes are an order of medium-sized and large waterbirds found worldwide. As traditionally—but erroneously—defined, they encompass all birds that have feet with all four toes webbed. Hence, they were formerly also known by such ...

(pelicans) *

Phoenicopteriformes Phoenicopteriformes is a group of water birds which comprises flamingos and their extinct relatives. Flamingos (Phoenicopteriformes) and the closely related grebes ( Podicipedidae) are contained in the parent clade Mirandornithes. Fossil rec ...

(flamingos) *

Piciformes Nine families of largely arboreal birds make up the order Piciformes , the best-known of them being the Picidae, which includes the woodpeckers and close relatives. The Piciformes contain about 71 living genera with a little over 450 species, of ...

(woodpeckers) * Psittaciformes (parrots) * Strigiformes (owls) ''Colpocephalum'' species are examples of "rapid running l ce. ''C. turbinatum'', an ectoparasite of various birds including the

Galápagos hawk The Galápagos hawk (''Buteo galapagoensis'') is a large hawk endemic to most of the Galápagos Islands. Description The Galapágos hawk is similar in size to the red-tailed hawk (''Buteo jamaicensis'') and the Swainson's hawk (''Buteo swainso ...

, has been described as "highly mobile". Due to their speed, they can easily escape a bird trying to remove them through

preening Preening is a found in birds that involves the use of the beak to position feathers, interlock feather that have become separated, clean plumage, and keep ectoparasites in check. Feathers contribute significantly to a bird's insulation, waterp ...

; this allows them to inhabit birds' breast, anal, and back regions, where slower lice would be readily removed. ''Colpocephalum'' species eat feathers;

pigeon Columbidae () is a bird family consisting of doves and pigeons. It is the only family in the order Columbiformes. These are stout-bodied birds with short necks and short slender bills that in some species feature fleshy ceres. They primarily ...

s with large infestations of ''C. turbinatum'' can have almost all of their

vent Vent or vents may refer to: Science and technology Biology *Vent, the cloaca region of an animal *Vent DNA polymerase, a thermostable DNA polymerase Geology *Hydrothermal vent, a fissure in a planet's surface from which geothermally heated water ...

region feathers' fluff eaten. High numbers of ''Colpocephalum'' can also damage a pigeon's

flight feather Flight feathers (''Pennae volatus'') are the long, stiff, asymmetrically shaped, but symmetrically paired pennaceous feathers on the wings or tail of a bird; those on the wings are called remiges (), singular remex (), while those on the tail ...

s and decrease their flying power. ''Colpocephalum'' lice can live within flight feathers' quills. In addition to eating feathers, ''C. turbinatum'' consume their hosts' skin. Adults of this species have also been reported to engage in cannibalism in laboratory colonies, eating their own eggs and up to 80% of their nymphs.

Species

The genus has approximately 135 species, including: * †''

Colpocephalum californici ''Colpocephalum californici'', the California condor louse, was a species of chewing louse which parasitized the critically endangered California condor. It became extinct when the remaining California condors were deloused and treated with pesti ...

'' * '' Colpocephalum cooki'' * '' Colpocephalum falconii'' * '' Colpocephalum fregili'' * '' Colpocephalum pectinatum'' * '' Colpocephalum scopinum'' * '' Colpocephalum subzerafae'' * '' Colpocephalum turbinatum'' * '' Colpocephalum zebra'' * '' Colpocephalum zerafae''

Taxonomic history and the type species

Biology

Species

References

Further reading