Studies On Taxonomy And Phylogeny Of Myrsidea(Phthiraptera:Menoponidae) From Chinese Babblers

“Babblers” are a diverse group of passerine birds that occur across South and Southeast Asia and Africa.Traditionally,babblers have been placed in the family Timaliidae,but recent phylogenetic data has divided this into several families(Leiothrichidae,Alcippeidae,Pellorneidae,Timaliidae,Zosteropidae,Paradoxornithidae and Sylviidae).China is the radiation center of this group.Chewing lice(Phthiraptera)are permanent ectoparasites of birds and mammals.The lice of babblers are poorly known,especially the amblyceran chewing lice in the genus Myrsidea.Only a few species have been recorded in China.Between 2012 and 2019,a total of 932 babblers were examined for chewing lice.All lice parasitic in babblers were identified to genus level and some to species level.The overall prevalence of lice on these birds was 63.7%;the prevalence of Myrsidea spp.was 21.9%.A total of 13 Myrsidea species were found in China,including 6 known species,3 new records for China and 4 new species.We describe four new species of Myrsidea from China.They are: Myrsidea attenuata n.sp.ex Garrulax maesi,Myrsidea zhangae n.sp.ex Ianthocincla berthemyi,Myrsidea liopari n.sp.ex Lioparus chrysotis,Myrsidea suthorae n.sp.ex Suthora verreauxi.Samples collected between 2012-2019 were analyzed genetically,based on the mitochondrial COI and 16 S rDNA.The phylogenies based on Bayesian inference support the monophyly of Myrsidea and of a clade that contains most of the Myrsidea species on babblers.The structure of the phylogeny includes both clades that appear to occur only on a single group of related hosts and clades that are widely distributed across many different babbler host groups.The relationships of Myrsidea species do not directly reflect the relationship of its host.Host switching seems to be part of the evolutionary history of Myrsidea.The classification of male genital sclerites is largely consistent with the phylogeny of the lice,suggesting that the male genital sclerites are a useful character to identify species and species groups.This thesis summarizes the species and distribution of Myrsidea parasitic in babblers,classifies the types of male genital sclerites of Myrsidea,clarifies the effective classification characteristics and analyzes the phylogeny of Myrsidea parasitic in babblers,which is important for biodiversity conservation and interpretation of speciation and evolution.