''Strigiphilus'' is a genus of chewing louse in the suborder
Ischnocera
Ischnocera is a large parvorder of lice from the infraorder Phthiraptera. The parvorder consists of Mallophaga, chewing lice, which feed on the feathers and skin debris of birds. Many species of Ischnocera have evolved an elongated body shape. T ...
. It was
circumscribed in 1910 by
Eric Mjöberg.
Taxonomic history
Mjöberg initially circumscribed ''Strigiphilus'' as a subgenus of the genus he referred to as ''Docophorus''
(now known as ''
Philopterus'').
In a 1966 paper,
Theresa Clay recognized 29 species and grouped them into the following nine
species group
In biology, a species complex is a group of closely related organisms that are so similar in appearance and other features that the boundaries between them are often unclear. The taxa in the complex may be able to hybridize readily with each oth ...
s:
* ''
Strigiphilus rostratus'' group
* ''
Strigiphilus heterocerus'' group
* ''
Strigiphilus cursor'' group
* ''
Strigiphilus crenulatus'' group
* ''
Strigiphilus macrogenitalis'' group
* ''
Strigiphilus strigis'' group
* ''
Strigiphilus siamensis'' group
* ''
Strigiphilus ketupae'' group
* ''
Strigiphilus cursitans'' group
The largest group is the ''S. curstans'' group.
Hosts
''Strigiphilus'' is the only genus of Ischnocera to exclusively
parasitize owls.
Species
, there are approximately fifty species of ''Strigiphilus''.
Species include:
* ''
Strigiphilus garylarsoni''
(''cursitans'' group)
References
Further reading
*
*
Lice
Parasites of birds
{{louse-stub