Belongs within: Nanopsocetae.
Contains: Menoponidae, Ricinidae, Laemobothrion, Boopiidae, Trichodectidae, Anoplura, Philopteridae.
The Phthiraptera, true lice, are a group of small, wingless insects that live as external parasites on warm-blooded vertebrates. Historically, they have been divided between the chewing or biting Mallophaga and the sucking Anoplura but the former are undoubtedly paraphyletic to the latter. Instead, the Amblycera, which retain maxillary palps, are probably the sister group of the remaining Phthiraptera. The Anoplura form a clade with the long-rostrate Haematomyzus that is probably embedded within the paraphyletic ‘Ischnocera’ (Grimaldi & Engel 2005). The ‘Ischnocera’ are otherwise characterised by vertical mandibles and the lack of maxillary palps.
Synapomorphies (from Grimaldi & Engel 2005): Apterous; head with very limited movement; eyes highly reduced (only several facets), usually completely lost; ocelli absent; dorsal tentorial arms lost; lacinial stylets reduced or lost; maxillae reduced or lost; antennae reduced to three flagellomeres. Metathoracic spiracle absent; third thoracic ganglion fused with abdominal ganglion. Egg with hydropile and operculum, cemented to host hair or feather. Three nymphal instars.
<==Phthiraptera [Mallophaga, Nyrmida, Parasita, Pediculida, Philopterina, Siphunculata]
|--Amblycera [Ricinoidea]GE05
| | i. s.: Neomenopon Bedford 1920T62
| | Bonomiella Conci 1937T62
| |--AbrocomophagidaeGE05
| |--MenoponidaeCM91
| |--RicinidaeCM91
| |--LaemobothrionCM91
| |--BoopiidaeCM91
| |--TrimenoponidaeCM91
| | |--Trimenopon hispidum (Burmeister 1838)T62
| | `--Harrisonia uncinataGE05
| `--GyropidaeCM91
| |--Gliricola Mjöberg 1910PB96
| | `--G. porcelli (Schrank 1781) (see below for synonymy)PB96
| `--Gyropus Nitzsch 1818PB96
| `--*G. ovalis Burmeister 1838PB96
`--Euphthiraptera [Ischnocera, Philopteroidea]A99
| i. s.: Syrrhaptoecus Waterson 1928T62
| DasyonygidaeRD77
|--+--TrichodectidaeGE05
| |--Saurodectes [Saurodectidae]R02
| | `--S. vrsanskyiGE05
| `--LipognathaA99
| |--AnopluraR02
| `--HaematomyzusCM91 [Haematomyzidae, Haematomyzoidea, Rhynchophthiraptera, RhynchophthirinaR02]
| |--H. elephantisGE05
| |--H. hopkinsiGE05
| `--H. porciGE05
`--+--TrichophilopterusRD77 [TrichophilopteridaeGE05]
|--PhilopteridaeGE05
`--+--Rhopaloceras [Heptapsogasteridae]GE05
| `--R. rudimentariusGE05
`--Goniodes Nitzsch 1818PB96 (see below for synonymy)
|--*G. pavonis (Linnaeus 1758)PB96 (see below for synonymy)
|--G. australis Emerson & Price 1986 [incl. *Leipoiella maoriana Mey 1986]PB96
|--G. biordinatus Clay 1940PB96
|--G. colchici Denny 1842 [=G. colchicus Giebel 1874]PB96
|--G. cornutus Rudow 1869PB96
|--G. dissimilis Denny 1842 [=*Oulocrepis dissimilis]PB96
|--G. fissus (Rudow 1869) [=Goniocotes fissus]PB96
|--G. gigas (Taschenberg 1879) (see below for synonymy)PB96
|--G. leipoae Emerson & Price 1984 [=*Megatheliella leipoae]PB96
|--G. macrocephalus (Taschenberg 1882) [=Goniocotes macrocephalus, *Homocerus macrocephalus]PB96
|--G. minor (Piaget 1880) [=Goniocotes minor]PB96
|--G. retractus Le Souëf 1902 [=Gonoides (l. c.) retractus]PB96
`--G. souefi Clay 1940 (see below for synonymy)PB96
Phthiraptera incertae sedis:
Pseudolipeurus plumbeus (Pessoa & Guimarães 1935) [incl. P. uoe Eichler 1950]T62
Trogoninirmus Eichler 1944T62
Trogoniella Tendeiro 1960T62
Splendoroffula Clay & Meinertzhagen 1941T62
TrochiloecetesA71
AquanirmusA71
|--A. americanusA71
|--A. bucomfistiiA71
`--A. colymbinusA71
FerribiaA71
Neotrichodectes mephitidisHN90
Heptapsus nothocercae Carriker 1936S69
Amyrisidea simplexS69
|--A. s. simplexS69
`--A. s. pauxis Carriker 1950S69
Conciella clamatori Carriker 1966S69
Trochiliphagus mellivorus Carriker 1960S69
Liotheum Nitzsch 1818PB96 [LiotheidaeK08]
`--L. cornicis [=Ricinus cornicis]G20
‘Neumannia’ Uchida 1926 nec Trouessart 1888 nec Weise 1907EH19
Gliricola porcelli (Schrank 1781) [=Pediculus porcelli; incl. Gyropus gracilis Nitzsch 1818, *Gliricola gracilis]PB96
Goniodes Nitzsch 1818PB96 [incl. Homocerus Kéler 1939PB96, Leipoiella Mey 1986PB96, Megatheliella Mey 1986PB96, Oulocrepis Kéler 1939PB96, Stenocrotaphus Kéler 1939PB96; GoniodidaeGE05]
Goniodes gigas (Taschenberg 1879) [=Goniocotes gigas, *Stenocrotaphus gigas, Goniocotes hologaster Denny 1842 non Philopterus (Goniodes) hologaster Nitzsch 1818; incl. Goniocotes abdominalis Piaget 1880]PB96
*Goniodes pavonis (Linnaeus 1758)PB96 [=Pediculus pavonisPB96, Ricinus pavonisL02, Philopterus (Goniodes) falcicornis Nitzsch 1818PB96]
Goniodes souefi Clay 1940 [=Gonoides (l. c. for Goniodes) longus Le Souëf 1902 non Rudow 1869; incl. Goniodes elongatus Piaget 1885 non Piaget 1880]PB96
*Type species of generic name indicated
References
[A71] Askew, R. R. 1971. Parasitic Insects. Heinemann Educational Books: London.
[A99] Ax, P. 1999. Das System der Metazoa II. Ein Lehrbuch der phylogenetischen Systematik. Gustav Fisher Verlag: Stuttgart (translated: 2000. Multicellular Animals: The phylogenetic system of the Metazoa vol. 2. Springer).
[CM91] Calaby, J. H., & M. D. Murray. 1991. Phthiraptera (lice). In: CSIRO. The Insects of Australia: A textbook for students and research workers 2nd ed. vol. 1 pp. 421–428. Melbourne University Press: Carlton (Victoria).
[EH19] Énay, R., & M. K. Howarth. 2019. Part L, revised, volume 3B, chapter 7: Systematic descriptions of the Perisphinctoidea. Treatise Online 120: 1–184.
[G20] Goldfuss, G. A. 1820. Handbuch der Naturgeschichte vol. 3. Handbuch der Zoologie pt 1. Johann Leonhard Schrag: Nürnberg.
[GE05] Grimaldi, D., & M. S. Engel. 2005. Evolution of the Insects. Cambridge University Press: New York.
[HN90] Hafner, M. S., & S. A. Nadler. 1990. Cospeciation in host-parasite assemblages: comparative analysis of rates of evolution and timing of cospeciation events. Systematic Zoology 39 (3): 192–204.
[K08] Kellogg, V. L. 1908. Wissenschaftliche Ergebnisse der Schwedischen Zoologischen Expedition nach dem Kilimandjaro, dem Meru und den Umgebenden Massaisteppen Deutsch-Ostafrikas 1905–1906 vol. 3 section 15. Corrodentia pt 4. Mallophaga. Almqvist & Wiksells Boktryckeri-A. B.: Uppsala.
[L02] Latreille, P. A. 1802. Histoire Naturelle des Fourmis, et recueil de mémoires et d’observations sur les abeilles, les araignées, les faucheurs, et autres insectes. Théophile Barrois père: Paris.
[PB96] Palma, R. L., & S. C. Barker. 1996. Phthiraptera. In: Wells, A. (ed.) Zoological Catalogue of Australia vol. 26. Psocoptera, Phthiraptera, Thysanoptera pp. 81–247. CSIRO Publishing: Melbourne.
[R02] Rasnitsyn, A. P. 2002. Superorder Psocidea Leach, 1815. In: Rasnitsyn, A. P., & D. L. J. Quicke (eds) History of Insects pp. 125–133. Kluwer Academic Publishers: Dordrecht.
[RD77] Richards, O. W., & R. G. Davies. 1977. Imms’ General Textbook of Entomology 10th ed. vol. 2. Classification and Biology. Chapman and Hall: London.
[S69] Steyskal, G. C. 1969. The mistreatment of the Latin genitive case in forming names of parasites. Systematic Zoology 18 (3): 339–342.
[T62] Tendeiro, J. 1962. Estudos sobre malófagos: Revisão monográfica do género Columbicola Ewing (Ischnocera, Philopteridae). Memórias da Junta de Investigações do Ultramar, ser. 2, 32: 7–460.