''Pseudolynchia canariensis'', the pigeon louse fly or pigeon fly, is a species of biting

fly Flies are insects of the Order (biology), order Diptera, the name being derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek δι- ''di-'' "two", and πτερόν ''pteron'' "wing". Insects of this order use only a single pair of wings to fly, the hindwing ...

in the family of louse flies, Hippoboscidae.

Distribution

''Pseudolynchia canariensis'' are species-specific (Columbidae) obligate ectoparasites potentially found in many parts of world where domestic pigeons are kept. Known from wild or feral hosts in continental

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

, the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...

Sub-region,

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...

Nepal Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mai ...

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

Ryukyu Islands The , also known as the or the , are a chain of Japanese islands that stretch southwest from Kyushu to Taiwan: the Ōsumi, Tokara, Amami, Okinawa, and Sakishima Islands (further divided into the Miyako and Yaeyama Islands), with Yonaguni ...

, the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

Malaya Malaya refers to a number of historical and current political entities related to what is currently Peninsular Malaysia in Southeast Asia: Political entities * British Malaya (1826–1957), a loose collection of the British colony of the Straits ...

, and

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

, as well as

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

and

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...

in warmer latitudes.

Hosts

In 1931, G. Robert Coatney conducted an experiment to determine if pigeon louse flies would bite humans and survive on human blood and he found they could not. The only wild hosts are pigeons and doves (

Columbidae 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 ...

). In domestic settings they have been recorded from 33 genera, 13 families and 8 orders of birds.

Disease vector

''Pseudolynchia canariensis'' is the definitive host (sexual reproduction takes place in the insect vector) for the protozoan ''

Haemoproteus columbae ''Haemoproteus columbae'' is a species of blood parasite related to ''Plasmodium'' and other malaria parasites. Phylogenetic relationships among the Haemosporidia ''Haemoproteus columbae'' is a true member of the genus ''Haemoproteus'', basal t ...

'' or pigeon malaria and transmits this parasite to Columbiformes. This parasite can be fatal to young rock pigeons in extremely infected birds. However, more often, ''H. columbae'' is quite benign and an experimental study found no difference in experimentally infected birds and those in the surrounding population when followed from nestlings through young adults and monitored for survival. The global distribution of ''H. columbae'' described in rock pigeons may provide evidence for the wide range of ''P. canariensis.''

Ischnocera The Ischnocera is a large superfamily of lice. They are mostly parasitic on birds, but including a large family (the Trichodectidae) parasitic on mammals. The genus '' Trichophilopterus'' is also found on mammals (lemurs), but probably belongs ...

n lice are often found on several hippoboscid flies. This is a

phoretic Phoresis or phoresy is a non-permanent, commensalistic interaction in which one organism (a phoront or phoretic) attaches itself to another (the host) solely for the purpose of travel. Phoresis has been observed directly in ticks and mites s ...

association, meaning the lice catch a ride on the flies to move between bird hosts, and the lice do not feed on the flies. Pigeon flies themselves are commonly infested with hyperparasitic

mites Mites are small arachnids (eight-legged arthropods). Mites span two large orders of arachnids, the Acariformes and the Parasitiformes, which were historically grouped together in the subclass Acari, but genetic analysis does not show clear evid ...

such as '' Myialges anchora''.

References

Parasites of birds Insects described in 1839 Hippoboscidae Muscomorph flies of Europe Diptera of Africa Diptera of Asia Taxa named by Pierre-Justin-Marie Macquart {{Parasite-insect-stub