Apterygon okarito is a species of louse belonging to the family Menoponidae.[1]

Apterygon okarito

Nationally Critical (NZ TCS)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Psocodea
Family: Menoponidae
Genus: Apterygon
Species:
A. okarito
Binomial name
Apterygon okarito
Palma & Price, 2004

Taxonomy

edit

This species was described in 2004 by Ricardo Palma and Roger Price. The species name "okarito" refers to the type locality which is of the same name.[1] The holotype is stored at Te Papa Museum under registration number AI.012588.[2]

Description

edit

Males of this species are identical to others in the Apterygon genus an can only reliably be separated by minor differences in genitalia. The females are also identical and can be separated by their chaetotaxy.[1]

Distribution

edit

As a consequence of its host species distribution, this species only occurs in Westland, New Zealand.[1]

 
An Okarito kiwi, the only known host of Apterygon okarito.

Host

edit

The only known host species of this lice is the Okarito Kiwi.[1] This host restriction has also been used as evidence of the Okario Kiwi being a distinct species.[3]

Conservation status

edit

Under the New Zealand Threat Classification System, this species is listed as Nationally Critical with the qualifiers of "Conservation Dependent", "Increasing" and "One Location".[4]

References

edit
  1. ^ a b c d e Palma, Ricardo L.; Price, Roger D. (2004). "Apterygon okarito, a new species of chewing louse (Insecta: Phthiraptera: Menoponidae) from the Okarito brown kiwi (Aves: Apterygiformes: Apterygidae)". New Zealand Journal of Zoology. 31 (1): 67–73. doi:10.1080/03014223.2004.9518361. ISSN 0301-4223.
  2. ^ "Collections Online - Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa". collections.tepapa.govt.nz. Retrieved 2024-07-21.
  3. ^ Tennyson, Alan; Palma, Ricardo L.; Robertson, Hugh Alexander; Worthy, Trevor; Gill, Brian (2003-01-01). "A New Species of Kiwi (Aves, Apterygiformes) from Okarito, New Zealand". Records of the Auckland Museum. 40: 55–64.
  4. ^ Buckley, T. R.; Palma, R. L.; Johns, P. M.; Gleeson, D. M.; Heath, A. C.G.; Hitchmough, R. A.; Stringer, I. A.N. (2012). "The conservation status of small or less well known groups of New Zealand terrestrial invertebrates". New Zealand Entomologist. 35 (2): 137–143. doi:10.1080/00779962.2012.686319. ISSN 0077-9962.
edit