''Apterygon'' is a genus of

louse Louse (: lice) is the common name for any member of the infraorder Phthiraptera, which contains nearly 5,000 species of wingless parasitic insects. Phthiraptera was previously recognized as an order (biology), order, until a 2021 genetic stud ...

. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

to New Zealand and is an

ectoparasite Parasitism is a Symbiosis, close relationship between species, where one organism, the parasite, lives (at least some of the time) on or inside another organism, the Host (biology), host, causing it some harm, and is Adaptation, adapted str ...

of kiwi birds (''Apteryx''). Theresa Clay circumscribed the genus in 1961. In 1947, she had referred to this genus as "New Genus D", but it was not formally named as she needed to confirm the host of her specimen as well as additional material.

Description

''Apterygon'' heads lack preocular slits and the female genital chamber has a cellular circular structure. They lack eyes, have a reduced hypopharynx and a well developed postnotum.

Species

, four species are recognized in this genus. '' A. mirum'', the

type species In International_Code_of_Zoological_Nomenclature, zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the spe ...

of this genus, was described by Clay in the same paper which named the genus ''Apterygon''. The

holotype A holotype (Latin: ''holotypus'') is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of s ...

came from a North Island brown kiwi which was killed by a car in

Ōpōtiki Ōpōtiki (; from ''Ōpōtiki-Mai-Tawhiti'') is a town in the eastern Bay of Plenty in the North Island of New Zealand. It houses the headquarters of the Ōpōtiki District Council, the mayor of Ōpōtiki and comes under the Bay of Plenty Region ...

, New Zealand. It is found in New Zealand's North Island. Clay described a second species for this genus, '' A. hintoni'', in 1966. Its type host was a great spotted kiwi and its type locality was

Nelson, New Zealand Nelson () is a List of cities in New Zealand, city and Districts of New Zealand, unitary authority on the eastern shores of Tasman Bay at the top of the South Island of New Zealand. It is the oldest city in the South Island and the second-old ...

. It is found in New Zealand's South Island. In 1972, B. K. Tandan described a third species, '' A. dumosum'', based on specimens from a Stewart Island brown kiwi on

Stewart Island Stewart Island (, ' glowing skies', officially Stewart Island / Rakiura, formerly New Leinster) is New Zealand's third-largest island, located south of the South Island, across Foveaux Strait. It is a roughly triangular island with a la ...

, New Zealand. It is found throughout New Zealand. In addition to the Stewart Island brown kiwi, it parasitizes the South Island brown kiwi and the little spotted kiwi. The fourth species to be described was '' A. okarito'', whose description by Ricardo L. Palma and Roger D. Price was published in 2004. Its type host is the

Okarito kiwi The Okarito kiwi (''Apteryx rowi''), also known as the rowi or Okarito brown kiwi, is a member of the kiwi family Apterygidae, described as new to science in 2003. The species is part of the brown kiwi complex, and is morphologically very ...

, found in

Ōkārito Ōkārito is a small coastal settlement on the west Coast, New Zealand, West Coast of New Zealand's South Island, southwest of Hokitika, and from . It is built at the southern end of the Ōkārito Lagoon at the mouth of the Ōkārito River. Th ...

, New Zealand. It is only found in Westland in New Zealand's South Island.

Hosts

Lice in this genus are ectoparasites of all species of kiwi (''Apteryx''). The only other lice which parasitize kiwi are in the subgenus '' Rallicola'' (''Aptericola'').

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q13654708 Lice Insect genera Parasites of birds Endemic insects of New Zealand