Ricardo Palma

Ricardo Palma
Museum of New Zealand, Te Papa Tongarewa · Department of Entomology

PhD

About

228
Publications
63,101
Reads
How we measure 'reads'
A 'read' is counted each time someone views a publication summary (such as the title, abstract, and list of authors), clicks on a figure, or views or downloads the full-text. Learn more
3,141
Citations
Additional affiliations
April 1974 - April 1976
University of Canterbury
Position
  • Research Assistant
April 1976 - October 2015
Museum of New Zealand, Te Papa Tongarewa
Position
  • Curator of insects

Publications

Publications (228)
Article
Full-text available
I describe and illustrate five new species of chewing lice in the genus Halipeurus, parasitic on petrels from the Pacific and the Atlantic Oceans. They are: Halipeurus confusus n. sp. from Pterodroma nigripennis; H. pricei n. sp. from Pterodroma brevipes and Pt. leucoptera; H. atlanticus n. sp. from Pterodroma cahow and Pt. madeira; H. pelagodromae...
Article
Full-text available
We list all described species and subspecies of parasitic lice from the Galápagos Islands, based on literature and specimen records. A total of eight families, 47 genera, and 104 species and subspecies of parasitic lice are listed, of which 26 are new species records and eight are new genus records. Also, we report 17 new host-louse associations. T...
Article
Full-text available
Three species of Saemundssonia Timmermann, 1936 parasitic on skuas are recognised as valid: Saemundssonia (Saemundssonia) cephalus (Denny, 1842) on Stercorarius parasiticus; S. (S.)inexspectata Timmermann, 1951 on Stercorarius longicaudus; and S. (S.)euryrhyncha (Giebel, 1874) on Stercorarius pomarinus as well as on all species of Catharacta. The n...
Article
Full-text available
Six species of the genus Perineus Thompson, 1936 are recognised, including one new species. These, together with their hosts, are: P. nigrolimbatus (Giebel, 1874) on Fulmarus glacialis glacialis, F. glacialis auduboni, F. glacialis rodgersii, and F. glacialoides; P. concinnus (Kellogg & Chapman, 1899) on Diomedea albatrus, D. immutabilis, and D. ni...
Article
Full-text available
In an evolutionary context, parasites tend to be morphologically conservative relative to their hosts. However, the rate of neutral molecular evolution across many parasite lineages is faster than in their hosts. Although this relationship is apparent at the macroevolutionary scale, insight into the processes underpinning it may be gained through i...
Article
Full-text available
Since the publication of the fifth edition of the Checklist of the Birds of New Zealand in 2022, 3 new vagrant species (2 terns and a storm petrel) have been accepted as occurring in New Zealand as at 31 December 2023, and 11 species that became extinct more than c. 1 million years ago have been described. These comprised 3 waterfowl, 1 owlet-night...
Article
Full-text available
We describe a new and unusual myrmecophilous behaviour displayed by the darkling beetle, Scaurus uncinus (Forster, 1771) (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae), accessing nests of the harvester ant, Messor barbarus (Linnaeus, 1767) (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), in southeast Spain. The beetles enter the interior of the ant nests using a relatively primitive strat...
Article
Full-text available
We revise all the species of the genus Cholovocera Victor, 1838 (Coleoptera: Endomychidae), with descriptions, illustrations and complete synonymies, based on the examination of 1878 specimens of Cholovocera and a few beetles of other genera, collected by the senior author and from museum collections, including primary types. We recognise eight val...
Book
Full-text available
The fifth edition (2022) of the Checklist of the Birds of New Zealand no longer includes birds from Norfolk Island, Macquarie Island, or the Ross Dependency, Antarctica, unless those species also occur in or have reached New Zealand. Since the publication of the 2010 Checklist of the Birds New Zealand, one previously unknown living taxon (a snipe)...
Article
The biology of the scuttle fly Razorfemora zaragozae Disney (Diptera Phoridae) was previously unknown, but our observations in southern Spain indicate that this phorid fly is a parasitoid of the seed harvester ant Messor barbarus (L.) (Hymenoptera Formicidae). We report some aspects of the host location, host selection and oviposition behaviour of...
Article
Full-text available
Due to its cold and dry climate and scarcity of ice-free land, Antarctica has one of the most extreme environments on our planet. To survive in the Antarctic region, parasitic arthropods must either remain closely associated with their hosts throughout the entire life cycle or develop physiological adaptations to survive in the terrestrial habitat...
Article
Full-text available
Nearly all lineages of birds host parasitic feather lice. Based on recent phylogenomic studies, the three major lineages of modern birds diverged from each other before the Cretaceous-Paleogene (K-Pg) mass extinction event. In contrast, studies of the phylogeny of feather lice on birds, indicate that these parasites diversified largely after this e...
Article
Full-text available
Due to a processing error, the presentation of Table 1 was incorrect. The corrected table is given below. The original article has been corrected.
Article
Full-text available
Purpose The Manx shearwater flea Ceratophyllus (Emmareus) fionnus Usher, 1968 is a host-specific parasitic insect apparently restricted to the Isle of Rùm, off the west coast of Scotland. Although C. (E.) fionnus is one of only a small number of insect species endemic to the British Isles, its conservation status has never been evaluated. To enable...
Article
Full-text available
Two large taxonomic revisions of chewing lice belonging to the Brueelia-complex were published independently in 2017: Gustafsson & Bush (August 2017) and Mey (September 2017). However, Mey (2017) was incorrectly dated “Dezember 2016” on the title page. These two publications described many of the same taxonomic units under different names and there...
Poster
Full-text available
Background: Chewing lice are permanent, obligate and host-specific ectoparasites commonly found on birds. Although chewing lice are relatively benign parasites, when present in large numbers they can cause changes in flight performance, thermoregulatory capacity, body mass and survival of the birds. According to BirdLife International approximately...
Article
Full-text available
Alexander (1954: 489) recorded a petrel (Aves: Procellariiformes) captured alive on board a ship in the Indian Ocean by Mr W.W.A. Phillips who, after removing some lice, liberated it the following morning. Alexander (1954) identified that petrel as the species “Pterodroma aterrima Bonaparte”, now placed in the genus Pseudobulweria. The lice were ke...
Article
Full-text available
The tick Ixodes eudyptidis Maskell, 1885 has long been recognised as a parasite of penguins and a number of other seabird hosts and, despite a convoluted taxonomic history, there has been no disagreement as to its validity. The opportunity to examine a larger series of ticks from a wider range of hosts than previously available has led to the findi...
Article
Full-text available
1. The survival of parasites is threatened directly by environmental alteration and indirectly by all the threats acting upon their hosts, facing coextinction. 2. The fate of Darwin's finches and their native ectoparasites in the Gal apagos Islands is uncertain because of an introduced avian parasitic fly, Philornis downsi, which could potentially...
Article
Myrsidea ivanliteraki new species, M. novaeseelandiae new species, and M. hihi new species are described and illustrated from New Zealand birds, with Gymnorhina tibicen, Anthornis melanura and Notiomystis cincta as type hosts respectively. Also, Myrsidea vincula is redescribed and illustrated from one sample ex Strepera fuliginosa from Australia. K...
Article
In the early twentieth century, three species of ticks–Haemaphysalis leachii, Hyalomma aegyptium and Ixodes ricinus–were originally thought to be part of the New Zealand fauna. In the absence of any firm evidence for their continued existence in this country, and without any satisfactory explanation for their original appearance, they were deleted...
Article
A new feather mite species, Trouessartia sechellarum sp. n. (Astigmata: Analgoidea: Trouessartiidae), is described from the Seychelles magpie-robin Copsychus sechellarum (Passeriformes: Muscicapidae), an endangered endemic passerine bird inhabiting the Seychelles Islands. The most clear features distinguishing this mite from the related species, T....
Article
This study was carried out to determine chewing louse species of wild birds in the Ria Formosa Natural Park, located in southern Portugal. In addition, the hypothesis that bird age, avian migration and social behaviour have an impact on the louse prevalence was tested. Between September and December of 2013, 122 birds (belonging to 10 orders, 19 fa...
Article
During 10 years, from 2006 to 2015, samples of parasitic lice were collected and identified from 40 species of birds and four species of mammals in the Faroe Islands, resulting in 34 new records of species and subspecies, four genera, and 20 new host-louse associations for the islands. All these data are presented in this paper. These and previousl...
Article
Full-text available
A list of all the species of ticks (Acari: Ixodidae, Argasidae) known to occur naturally in the New Zealand subregion is given. Hosts, geographic distribution and relevant references are provided for each species. Three erroneous records published recently, two in a book on New Zealand biodiversity and one in a seabird tick review are corrected.
Article
Full-text available
The published type hosts of the louse taxon Nirmus triangulatus alpha Kellogg, 1914 are discussed and changed based on the examination of the syntype series and syntype slide label data. A lectotype is designated from specimens whose bird host is regarded as a natural, regular host (i.e. Catharacta chilensis (Bonaparte, 1857)). Records published af...
Article
Full-text available
A new species of louse, Anatoecus singhi, is described and illustrated from specimens collected from black swans, Cygnus atratus, in New Zealand. The shape of the head places A. singhi in a group with three other species exclusively parasitic on swans (Cygnus spp.). A list of the species/subspecies of Anatoecus recorded from swans worldwide is also...
Article
Full-text available
Six species of terns, which breed on the Arabian Peninsula, were examined for head chewing lice of the genus Saemundssonia in four different islands around the coasts of Saudi Arabia, both in the Red Sea and in the Arabian Gulf. Four louse species were collected: Saemundssonia laticaudata, Saemundssonia melanocephalus, Saemundssonia meridiana and S...
Article
Full-text available
The first descriptions of New Zealand endemic feather lice belonging to the Brueelia-complex (Phthiraptera: Ischnocera: Philopteridae) are given. The new genus Melibrueelia and new species M. novaeseelandiae are described, illustrated and compared with morphologically close taxa within the complex. The type host of M. novaeseelandiae is the tui, Pr...
Article
Full-text available
Mlíkovský (2013) proposed replacing the widely-used Melanocorypha leucoptera (Pallas, 1811) with Melanocorypha leucoptera (Hablizl, 1785) as the correct name for the White-winged Lark, with consequent shift in type locality from the Irtyš River-Baraba steppe region in south Siberia to the Crimea. This action breaches Art. 80.9 of the International...
Article
Full-text available
Berggren (2005) recorded the presence of louse-flies (Insecta: Diptera: Hippoboscidae) in the plumage of North Island robins (Petroica longipes) on Tiritiri Matangi I, including a photograph of a specimen. She sent 2 voucher specimens to the Museum of New Zealand where RLP identified them as Ornithoica sp. These specimens have been examined recentl...
Article
Parasites are essential elements in healthy natural ecosystems. Also, they constitute most of the world's biodiversity. Therefore, they deserve to be conserved together with their hosts. The Iberian lynx ( L ynx pardinus ) is the most endangered felid in the world because it only survives in two isolated populations in the Iberian Peninsula, with n...
Article
Full-text available
Abstract Historically wildlife conservation was based on habitat protection and exploitation control. Only recently have diseases been considered an important issue. However, pathogens are usually described during or after disease outbreaks, but to determine which pathogens may be emerging, surveys of wildlife health are critical in a given time. T...
Article
Full-text available
We describe and illustrate three new species of chewing lice in the genus Philopteroides parasitic on passerines (Order Passeriformes, families Acanthizidae, Rhipiduridae and Petroicidae) from New Zealand. They are: Philopteroides pilgrimi sp. n. from Gerygone igata igata; Philopteroides fuliginosus sp. n. from Rhipidura fuliginosa placabilis and R...
Article
We present a literature review of the sucking louse family Echinophthiriidae, its five genera and twelve species parasitic on pinnipeds (fur seals, sea lions, walruses, true seals) and the North American river otter. We give detailed synonymies and published records for all taxonomic hierarchies, as well as hosts, type localities and repositories o...
Article
Full-text available
I describe and illustrate three new species of chewing lice in the genus Saemundssonia, collected from seabirds in New Zealand, the Galápagos and other islands of the Pacific Ocean. They are: Saemundssonia (Saemundssonia) albatrossa n. sp. from Phoebetria palpebrata, Thalassarche chrysostoma, and Thalassarche impavida; Saemundssonia (Saemundssonia)...
Article
Full-text available
A total of 27 taxa from taxonomic groups with few species, or that are less well known, are listed as Threatened, 50 taxa are At Risk, 110 taxa are Data Deficient and three taxa are Extinct. Thirteen taxa are Nationally Critical: Aceria clianthi; Eriophyoidea incertae (Acari); Cryptops sp.; Haasiella sp. (Chilopoda); Burmjapyx sp. (Diplura); Hirudo...
Article
Full-text available
Redescriptions of Bizarrifrons magus (Nitzsch [in Giebel], 1866), the type species of Bizarrifrons, and B. picturatus Carriker & Díaz-Ungría, 1961 are given based on material from their type hosts. The nymphal instars of these two species are described and illustrated for the first time. Also, three new species are named and described: B. latifrons...
Article
Full-text available
We present a literature review of the sucking louse family Echinophthiriidae, its five genera and twelve species parasitic on pinnipeds (fur seals, sea lions, walruses, true seals) and the North American river otter. We give detailed synonymies and published records for all taxonomic hierarchies, as well as hosts, type localities and repositories o...
Article
Full-text available
Three species of the genus Hydraena Kugelann, 1794 are recorded and illustrated from New Zealand: H. zelandica Ordish, 1984, hitherto known from Marlborough and Central Otago in the South Island, is reported from mid-Canterbury; H. ordishi is described as a new species from Wairarapa in the North Island; H. ambiflagellata Zwick, 1977, a species of...
Article
Full-text available
All the species of the genus Orchymontia Broun, 1919 are reviewed, including O. nunni described as a new species from Karori, Wellington.The male genitalia of all 14 species are discussed and figured in both lateral and ventral views.A new arrangement of the species in groups and subgroups is proposed, mainly based on the morphology of the male gen...
Article
Full-text available
Clay and Meinertzhagen (1939) described the genus Hopkinsiella to accommodate one new species of louse found on the Kikuyu white-headed wood-hoopoe—Phoeniculus bollei jacksoni (Sharpe, 1890)—of the bird family Phoeniculidae. Tendeiro (1957) described a second species of Hopkinsiella, parasitic on a bird species of the same family. Subsequently, Ten...
Article
Full-text available
A list of all the species of ticks (Acari: Ixodidae, Argasidae) known to occur naturally in the New Zealand subregion is given. Hosts, geographic distribution and relevant references are provided for each species. Three erroneous records published recently, two in a book on New Zealand biodiversity and one in a seabird tick review are corrected.
Article
A list of all the species of ticks (Acari: Ixodidae, Argasidae) known to occur naturally in the New Zealand subregion is given. Hosts, geographic distribution and relevant references are provided for each species. Three erroneous records published recently, two in a book on New Zealand biodiversity and one in a seabird tick review are corrected.
Article
Full-text available
A total of 1,177 lice of four species were collected from 124 kelp gulls (Larus dominicanus) and 137 lice of the same four species from 60 Franklin's gulls (Larus pipixcan). The louse Saemundssonia lari (O Fabricius) (Phthiraptera: Philopteridae) was the most numerous on both gull species, with infestation rates of 4.9 on kelp gulls and 1.8 on Fran...
Article
Full-text available
The classification of petrels (Pterodroma spp.) from Round Island, near Mauritius in the Indian Ocean, has confounded researchers since their discovery in 1948. In this study we investigate the relationships between Round Island petrels and their closest relatives using evidence from mitochondrial DNA sequence data and ectoparasites. Far from provi...
Article
Full-text available
The chewing lice of the genus Philopterus parasitic on drongos (Dicruridae) are reviewed. Both sexes of the two species previously known from dicrurid hosts—P. trabecula (Piaget, 1880) and P. kalkalichi Ansari, 1955—are redescribed and illustrated. A new species, Philopterus petrescuae Adam is described from Dicrurus hottentottus from Indonesia. A...
Article
Full-text available
The New Zealand endemic genus Podaena Ordish, 1984 is revised. Eleven species are recognized of which four are described as new, and the remainder redescribed. The new species are : Podaena aotea from Great Barrier Island, Podaena hauturu from Little Barrier Island, Podaena mariae from the west coast of the South Island, and Podaena moanaiti from L...
Article
Full-text available
With great sadness, I received the news of the death of my colleague, close friend and mentor, Professor R.L.C. Pilgrim, affectionately known as Bob. Despite his deteriorating physical health, Bob continued to do research on his beloved fleas until the last minute of his life. He died suddenly at home of a heart attack, after spending the evening w...
Article
Lice phylogenetic relationships have often been used to elucidate host relationships and vice versa. In this study, we investigate the louse genus Halipeurus which parasitizes bird hosts in the families Procellariidae, Hydrobatidae and Pelecanoididae. The presence of two lice species on Pterodroma arminjoniana in different breeding grounds (Halipeu...
Article
Full-text available
We describe, discuss and illustrate a metaphoric parallel between the history of the most famous Spanish liqueur, “Anís del Mono” (Anís of the Monkey), and the evolution of living organisms in the light of Darwinian theory and other biological hypotheses published subsequent to Charles Darwin’s Origin of Species. Also, we report the use of a carica...
Article
Full-text available
Three species and one subspecies of lice in the genus Myrsidea are described and illustrated from passerine hosts from the Galápagos Islands. New taxa are: Myrsidea darwini new species (type host Geospiza fuliginosa Gould, Emberizidae); Myrsidea nesomimi nesomimi new species and subspecies (type host Nesomimus macdonaldi Ridgway, Mimidae); and Myrs...
Chapter
Full-text available
Article
. The purpose of this application, under Article 23.9.3 of the Code, is to conserve the generic names Anthochaera Vigors & Horsfield, 1827 and Philesturnus Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1832 for Australian wattlebirds (meliphagidae) and the New Zealand saddleback (callaeidae) by suppression of the generic name Creadion Vieillot, 1816. Suppression of the...
Article
Full-text available
Epistomolichus reticulatus (Pterolichidae: Pterolichinae), gen. nov., sp. nov., is described from a domestic chicken Gallus gallus (Aves: Phasianidae) from Santa Cruz Island, Galápagos Islands, Ecuador. Males and females of the new species have a rostrum-like extension above the gnathosoma, a character rarely found in members of the Pterolichidae a...
Article
Full-text available
The New Zealand storm-petrel Pealeornis maoriana Mathews, 1932 was described from 3 specimens collected in the 19th century. Since 1952 it has most commonly been considered a subspecies of Wilson’s storm-petrel Oceanites oceanicus exhibiting the ventrally streaked “Pealea” phenomenon. There had been no recorded sightings of the New Zealand storm-pe...
Article
Full-text available
Ten species, including four new species, of the chewing louse genus Forficuloecus Conci, 1941, are recognized from Australasian parrots, and a key is given for their identification. The new species and their type hosts are: F. cameroni ex the Red-winged Parrot, Aprosmictus erythropterus (J.F. Gmelin, 1788); F. banksi ex the Mulga Parrot, Psephotus...
Article
Ten species, including four new species, of the chewing louse genus Forficuloecus Conci, 1941, are recognized from Australasian parrots, and a key is given for their identification. The new species and their type hosts are: F. cameroni ex the Red-winged Parrot, Aprosmictus erythropterus (J.F. Gmelin, 1788); F. banksi ex the Mulga Parrot, Psephotus...
Article
Full-text available
Sychra, Old Ř Ich, Palma, Ricardo L. (2008): The identity of Neopsittaconirmus palaeornis (Eichler) (Phthiraptera: Philopteridae) from Psittacula derbiana (Psittaciformes: Psittacidae), with a new synonymy. Zootaxa 1827: 62-64, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.183123
Article
Full-text available
Neopsittaconirmus palaeornis was originally described by Eichler (1943: 114; as Pflegeriella palaeornis) based on a single male from the Derbyan Parakeet, Psittacula derbiana (Fraser). Eichler (1943: 114) also examined a female, which appears to belong to the same species, found on a Blue Magpie Urocissa erythrorhyncha (Boddaert), almost certainly...
Article
Full-text available
An extensive survey of chewing lice from rock pigeon, Columba livia Gmelin, and mourning dove, Zenaida macroura (L.), carried out from 1994 to 2000 and from 2003 to 2006 in Manitoba, Canada, produced the following new records: Coloceras tovornikae Tendeiro for North America; Columbicola macrourae (Wilson), Hohorstiella lata (Piaget), H. paladinella...
Data
FIGURES 1 – 4. Neopsittaconirmus palaeornis (Eichler). 1 — male; 2 — male abdominal tergite IX; 3 — male genitalia; 4 — female ventral terminalia.
Data
FIGURE 26. Phylogenetic tree based on parsimony analysis of a 379 base pair portion of the mitochondrial COI gene. Searches involved 10 random addition replicates and numbers above branches are support from 1000 parsimony bootstrap replicates. Branches proportional to reconstructed changes (scale indicated). F. = Forficuloecus.
Data
FIGURES 1 – 8. 1 – 4, Forficuloecus cameroni. 1, Entire dorsoventral male. 2, Male genitalia. 3, Dorsal female head. 4, Female metanotum and dorsoventral abdomen. 5, F. emersoni, male genitalia. 6, F. meinertzhageni, male genitalia. 7 – 8
Article
Full-text available
Palma, Ricardo L., Dalgleish, Robert C., Price, Roger D. (2007): Niethammerella Eichler, a senior synonym of Kaysius Price & Clayton (Phthiraptera: Amblycera: Menoponidae). Zootaxa 1521: 67-68
Article
Eichler (1954: 52) briefly described the new genus Niethammerella to include two morphologically similar species of lice: Machaerilaemus cotingae Carriker, 1949 and M. tityrus (Carriker, 1903), designating the former as the type species. Carriker (1949: 298) had already commented that M. cotingae and M. tityrus “… may warrant the erection of a spec...
Article
Full-text available
All the louse species reported in the literature from the Tristan da Cunha archipelago have been compiled, listed and discussed, including five additional species records based on material recently collected or identified in previous collections. A total of 54 louse species (including 6 records identified at the generic or subgeneric level only), b...
Article
Full-text available
Lice in the genus Pectinopygus parasitize a single order of birds (Pelecaniformes). To examine the degree of congruence between the phylogenies of 17 Pectinopygus species and their pelecaniform hosts, sequences from mitochondrial 12S rRNA, 16S rRNA, COI, and nuclear wingless and EF1-α genes (2290 nucleotides) and from mitochondrial 12S rRNA, COI, a...
Article
Full-text available
A report of a louse sample identified as Colpocephalum cholibae Price & Beer by Oliveira et al. (2004), from the roadside hawk [Rupornis magnirostris (Gmelin)] in the state of São Paulo, Brazil, is regarded as a misidentification. A correction to the identity of the lice is given as Kurodaia (Kurodaia) fulvofasciata (Piaget). Key morphological diff...
Chapter
Full-text available
Article
Full-text available
In this study, 17 lice species were collected and identified from marine and coastal birds from the Atlantic Ocean coast, rivers and lagoons of Uruguay. Among them., 16 species (one at generic level only) are recorded for the first time for this country.
Article
Full-text available
Six species of lice (Phthiraptera: Philopteridae, Menoponidae) were collected from four marine bird species belonging to the family Laridae from the Chilean coast. Saemundssonia sternae (Linnaeus,1758) and Quadraceps sellatus (Burmeister,1838) collected from the boreal sea gull (Sterna hirundo, Linnaeus,1758), Saemundssonia lari (O, fabricius, 1780...
Article
Full-text available
In this study, 17 lice species were collected and identified from marine and coastal birds from the Atlantic Ocean coast, rivers and lagoons of Uruguay. Among them, 16 species (one at generic level only) are recorded for the first time for this country.