Skip to main content Skip to main navigation menu Skip to site footer
Responsive image
Issue: Vol. 5715 No. 1: 28 Oct. 2025
Type: Article
Published: 2025-10-28
DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5715.1.44
Page range: 519-523
Abstract views: 95
PDF downloaded: 6

A new species of the genus Melophagus Latreille, 1802 (Diptera, Hippoboscidae) from the Eastern Pamir

A.N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution; Russian Academy of Sciences; 33 Leninskiy Av.; Moscow; 119071; Russia.
A.N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution; Russian Academy of Sciences; 33 Leninskiy Av.; Moscow; 119071; Russia.
Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences; Universitetskaya emb. 1; Saint Petersburg; 199034; Russia.
Diptera ked Tajikistan Marco Polo sheep Ovis ammon polii ectoparasite fly

Abstract

Hippoboscidae family currently includes about 220 species. One of the most studied groups of hippoboscid flies is the genus Melophagus. According to different authors, it includes from three to eight species. Their main hosts are different sheep. A new ked species of this genus, M. storozhenkoi Matyukhin, Yatsuk & Nartshuk, sp. nov. is described. The holotype was collected near Lake Zorkul, Badakhshan Mountainous Autonomous Region, Tajikistan, from Ovis ammon polii (Bovidae). Melophagus storozhenkoi sp. nov. differs from all known species of the genus in number of scutellar setae, morphology of scutellum, color, thickness and length of abdominal setae, body color. An updated key for all Melophagus species, including the new one, is provided.

 

References

  1. Danilkin, A.A. (2005) Mammals of the fauna of Russia and adjacent territories. Bovids (Bovidae). Tovarishchestvo nauchnykh izdaniy KMK, Moscow, 550 pp. [in Russian]
  2. Dick, C.W. (2006) Checklist of world Hippoboscidae (Diptera: Hippoboscoidea). Department of Zoology, Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, Illinois, 7 pp.
  3. Doszhanov, T.N. (1980) Louse flies (Diptera, Hippoboscidae) of Kazakhstan. Nauka, Almaty, 280 pp. [in Russian]
  4. Doszhanov, T.N. (2003) Louse flies (Diptera, Hippoboscidae) of the Palaearctic region. Nauka, Almaty, 277 pp. [in Russian]
  5. Huang, K., Xiong, N., Sun, L., Zhang, X., Zhao, X., Zhou, K. & Wu, J. (2024) Molecular investigation of Bartonella melophagi and the first report of Trypanosoma melophagium in Melophagus ovinus from southern Xinjiang, China. Pakistan Veterinary Journal, 44 (2), 384–390. https://doi.org/10.29261/pakvetj/2024.149
  6. Kosoy, M., Bai, Y., Enscore, R., Rizzo, M.R., Bender, Sc., Popov, Vs., Albayrak, L., Fofanov, Y. & Chomel, Br. (2016) Bartonella melophagi in blood of domestic sheep (Ovis aries) and sheep keds (Melophagus ovinus) from the southwestern US: Cultures, genetic characterization, and ecological connections. Veterinary Microbiology, 190, 43–49. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.vetmic.2016.05.009
  7. Kumsa, B., Socolovschi, C., Parola, P., Rolain, J.-M. & Raoult, D. (2012) Molecular Detection of Acinetobacter Species in Lice and Keds of Domestic Animals in Oromia Regional State, Ethiopia. PLoS ONE, 7 (12), e52377. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0052377
  8. Li, S.-A., Zhang, L., Li, Z., Song, H.-N., Que, Z.-W., Zhao, S.-Y., Li, Y.-Y., Guo, Y.-L. & Wu, J.-Y. (2023) Detection of Rickettsia spp. and Anaplasma ovis in Melophagus ovinus from southern Xinjiang, China. Medical and Veterinary Entomology, 37 (4), 865–870. https://doi.org/10.1111/mve.12673
  9. Liu, D., Wang, YZ., Zhang, H., Liu, Zh.Q., Wureli, H.Z., Wang, Sh.W., Tu, Ch.Ch. & Chen, Ch. (2016) First report of Rickettsia raoultii and R. slovaca in Melophagus ovinus, the sheep ked. Parasites & Vectors, 9, 600. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13071-016-1885-7
  10. Lu, M., Tian, J., Zhao, H., Jiang, H., Qin, X., Wang, W. & Li, K. (2022) Molecular Survey of Vector-Borne Pathogens in Ticks, Sheep Keds, and Domestic Animals from Ngawa, Southwest China. Pathogens, 11 (5), 606. https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens11050606
  11. Maa, T.C. (1969) Further notes on Lipopteninae (Diptera: Hippoboscidae). Pacific Insects Monograph, 20, 205–236.
  12. Nartshuk, E.P., Matyukhin, A.V., Markovets, M.Yu. & Yatsuk, A.A. (2024) Description of a new Ornithomya Latreille, 1802 (Diptera: Hippoboscidae) species with a key to all species of this genus. Proceedings of the Zoological Institute RAS, 328 (4), 640–657. https://doi.org/10.31610/trudyzin/2024.328.4.640
  13. Oboňa, J., Fogašová, K., Fulín, M., Greš, S., Manko, P., Repaský, J., Roháček, J., Sychra, O. & Hromada, M. (2022) Updated taxonomic keys for European Hippoboscidae (Diptera), and expansion in Central Europe of the bird louse fly Ornithomya comosa (Austen, 1930) with the first record from Slovakia. ZooKeys, 1115, 81–101. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1115.80146
  14. Peña-Espinoza, M., Em, D., Shahi-Barogh, B., Berer, D., Duscher, G., Vloedt, L., Glawischnig, W., Rehbein, S., Harl, J., Unterköfler, M. & Fuehrer, H.P. (2023) Molecular pathogen screening of louse flies (Diptera: Hippoboscidae) from domestic and wild ruminants in Austria. Parasites & Vectors, 16, 179. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13071-023-05810-4
  15. Petersen, F.T., Meier, R., Kutty, S.N. & Wiegmann, B.M. (2007) The phylogeny and evolution of host choice in the Hippoboscoidea (Diptera) as reconstructed using four molecular markers. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 45, 111–122. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2007.04.023
  16. Richard W.S. (2005) A review of Melophagus ovinus (L.), the sheep ked. Veterinary Parasitology, 130 (1–2), 141–155. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.vetpar.2005.03.005
  17. Werszko, J., Asman, M., Witecka, J., Steiner-Bogdaszewska, Ż., Szewczyk, T., Kuryło, G., Wilamowski, K. & Karbowiak, G. (2021) The role of sheep ked (Melophagus ovinus) as potential vector of protozoa and bacterial pathogens. Scientific Reports, 11, 15468. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-94895-x
  18. Zhang, Q.-X., Wang, Y., Li, Y., Han, S.-Y., Wang, B., Yuan, G.-H., Zhang, P.-Y., Yang, Z.-W., Wang, S.-L., Chen, J.-Y., Zhong, H.-S., Han, X.-Q. & He, H.-X. (2021) Vector-Borne Pathogens with Veterinary and Public Health Significance in Melophagus ovinus (Sheep Ked) from the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Pathogens, 10 (2), 249. https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens10020249

How to Cite

Yatsuk, A.A., Matyukhin, A.V. & Nartshuk, E.P. (2025) A new species of the genus Melophagus Latreille, 1802 (Diptera, Hippoboscidae) from the Eastern Pamir. Zootaxa, 5715 (1), 519–523. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5715.1.44