Colpocephalum sp. Chewing Lice (Psocodea: Menoponidae) Collected From Bald Eagles in Mississippi

Abstract

Bald eagles, Haliaeetus leucocephalus L., are found throughout North America and are often seen in areas where fish (their preferred food) are abundant (Bildstein 2017, Raptors, Cornell Univ. Press, Ithaca, NY). Like other birds, bald eagles may be parasitized by a variety of ectoparasites including lice and mites (Price and Graham 1997, Chewing and Sucking Lice as Parasites of Mammals and Birds, USDA Tech. Bull. No. 1849, Washington, DC; Philips 2000, J. Raptor Res. 34:210– 231). Chewing lice, along with the other parasitic lice, were formerly placed in the insect Order Phthiraptera, but now have been placed within nonparasitic bark lice and book lice in the Order Psocodea (Durden 2019, Lice, Pg. 79–104, G.R. Mullen and L.A. Durden [eds.], Lice, Medical and Veterinary Entomology, 3ed, Elsevier, New York). Five genera of chewing lice, particularly those in the family Menoponidae have been reported previously from bald eagles (Price and Beer 1963, Can. Entomol. 95:731–763; Price et al. 2003, Illinois Natural History Survey Special Publ. No. 24), but records from Mississippi are rare or nonexistent. Here, we report four specimens of Colpocephalum sp. collected from two bald eagles nesting near the Mississippi Gulf Coast. On 8 March 2022, two male bald eagle nestlings were banded by the second author (SR) and his assistants at the Mississippi Sandhill Crane National Wildlife Refuge, Jackson Co., Mississippi, near Gautier (GPS coordinates: 3082730N, 8883930W). During the banding process, an estimated 15 lice were seen running across his fingers and arms; 4 were captured and placed in a vial of alcohol. At the laboratory, all four lice were removed from the alcohol, cleared in a 6.0% potassium hydroxide solution, and mounted on microscope slides for identification using a standard taxonomic key (Fig. 1) (Clay 1969, Bull. British Mus. Nat. Hist. Entomol.