Red imported fire ant (Solenopsis invicta) aggression influences the behavior of three hard tick species.

Few studies have documented the indirect effects of predators on tick behavior. We conducted behavioral assays in the laboratory to quantify the effects of a highly abundant predator, the red imported fire ant (Solenopsis invicta), on three species of ticks endemic to the southern USA: the lone star tick (Amblyomma americanum), the Gulf Coast tick (A. maculatum), and the Cayenne tick (A. mixtum). We documented ant aggression toward ticks (biting, carrying, and stinging) and determined the effects of ants on tick activity. Ticks were significantly less active in the presence of fire ants, and tick activity was negatively associated with ant aggression, but in many cases the effects of fire ants on ticks varied by tick species, stage, and engorgement status. For example, fire ants took half as long (~ 62 s) to become aggressive toward unfed A. americanum adults compared with unfed A. maculatum, and only ~ 8 s to become aggressive toward engorged A. maculatum nymphs. Correspondingly, the activity of unfed A. americanum adults and engorged A. maculatum nymphs was reduced by 67 and 93%, respectively, in the presence of fire ants. This reduction in tick activity translated to less questing by unfed ticks and less time spent walking by engorged nymphs. Our results suggest that fire ants may have important non-consumptive effects on ticks and demonstrate the importance of measuring the indirect effects of predators on tick behavior.

A new genus and species of pigeon (Aves, Columbidae) from the Kingdom of Tonga, with an evaluation of hindlimb osteology of columbids from Oceania.

The region from New Guinea through Oceania sustains the world's most diverse set of columbids. We describe osteological characters of the hindlimb (femur, tibiotarsus, tarsometatarsus) that divide the Papuan-Oceanic pigeons and doves into three groups based on functional morphology: "arboreal" (Hemiphaga, Ducula, Ptilinopus, Drepanoptila, Gymnophaps), "intermediate" (Columba, Macropygia, Reinwardtoena), and "terrestrial" (Gallicolumba [includes Alopecoenas], Trugon, Microgoura, Goura, Chalcophaps, Geopelia, Henicophaps, Caloenas, Didunculus, Otidiphaps). The arboreal and terrestrial groups are each distinctive osteologically, especially in the tibiotarsus and tarsometatarsus, which are short relative to the femur in the arboreal group, and long relative to the femur in the terrestrial group. The intermediate pigeons are more similar to arboreal than to terrestrial pigeons, but nonetheless fit in neither group. To estimate the phylogenetic relationships among or within these three groups is somewhat tentative using hindlimb osteology alone, although all five genera of arboreal pigeons have independent molecular evidence of relatedness, as do most of the genera of terrestrial pigeons.                Using the hindlimb and other osteological data as a framework, we describe a new extinct genus and species of pigeon, Tongoenas burleyi, from Holocene archaeological and Pleistocene paleontological sites on six islands (Foa, Lifuka, `Uiha, Ha`afeva, Tongatapu, and `Eua) in the Kingdom of Tonga. Tongoenas was a large-sized member of the "arboreal" pigeon group, with osteological characters that relate it to Ducula, Gymnophaps, and Hemiphaga (generally canopy frugivores) rather than with the "terrestrial" pigeons (more ground-dwelling and granivorous) such as Gallicolumba, Trugon, Microgoura, Goura, etc. (others listed above). Among volant columbids, living or extinct, only the species of Goura (from New Guinea) are larger than Tongoenas. From most of the same prehistoric sites, we also report new material of the nearly as large, extinct pigeon Ducula shutleri Worthy Burley, recently described from islands in the Vava`u Group of Tonga. Thus, D. shutleri also was widespread in Tonga before human impact. The prehistoric anthropogenic loss in Tonga of Tongoenas burleyi, Ducula shutleri, and other columbids undoubtedly had a negative impact on the dispersal regimes of Tongan forest trees. At first human contact about 2850 years ago, at least nine species of columbids in six genera inhabited the Tongan islands, where only four species in three genera exist today.

Another new species of flightless Rail (Aves: Rallidae: Rallus) from Abaco, The Bahamas.

We describe a late Pleistocene species of extinct rail, Rallus gracilipes n. sp., from Sawmill Sink blue hole on Abaco Island, Little Bahama Bank, The Bahamas. The only other extinct rail known from any Bahamian island is the smaller Rallus cyanocavi, also from late Pleistocene contexts at Sawmill Sink. No fossils of R. gracilipes or R. cyanocavi have been found in Holocene sites on Abaco; the loss of both of these species is likely to be due to changes in climate, habitat, and island area during the Pleistocene-Holocene Transition.

An Assessment of Host Associations, Geographic Distributions, and Genetic Diversity of Avian Chewing Lice (Insecta: Phthiraptera) from Benin.

Host associations of highly host-specific chewing lice (Insecta: Phthiraptera) across multiple avian species remains fairly undocumented in the West African country of Benin. Two hundred and seventeen bird specimens collected from multiple localities across Benin and housed at the Texas A&M University Biodiversity Research and Teaching Collections were examined for lice. Lice were identified and genetic data (mitochondrial COI and nuclear EF-1α genes) were obtained and phylogenetically analyzed. In total, we found 15 host associations, 7 of which were new to science. Genetically, most lice from Benin were unique and could represent new species. Based on host associations and unique genetic lineages, we estimate we discovered a minimum of 4 and possibly as many as 8 new chewing louse species. Given the lack of current data on chewing louse species distributions in Benin, this study adds to the knowledge of host associations, geographic distribution, and genetic variability of avian chewing louse species in West Africa.

A new extinct species of Snipe (Aves: Scolopacidae: Gallinago) from the West Indies.

We describe an extinct species of snipe (Gallinago kakuki, new species) from late Quaternary fossils in the Bahamian Archipelago (Abaco, New Providence, Little Exuma, Long, and Middle Caicos islands). The new species is known as well from fossils on Cuba, and Cayman Brac in the Cayman Islands. This rather large species of snipe was volant, although because of its relatively short carpometacarpus, the primary flight feathers probably were short. The only other species of Gallinago from the West Indies is the extant, migratory G. delicata, which breeds only in North America. Gallinago kakuki shares more osteological characters with two Eurasian species (G. media, G. hardwickii) than with either of the New World species we examined (G. delicata, G. paraguaiae). A possible inter-hemispherical relationship has been proposed as well for the two extinct, late Quaternary species of woodcocks from the West Indies (Scolopax anthonyi of Puerto Rico, S. brachycarpa of Hispaniola).

A new species of Woodcock (Aves: Scolopacidae: Scolopax) from Hispaniola, West Indies.

Several hundred late Holocene fossils from Trouing Jean Paul, a cave in Massif de la Selle, Haiti, represent an extinct species of woodcock (Scolopax brachycarpa, new species). Scolopax brachycarpa is known from most major skeletal elements; although volant, its carpometacarpus was very short relative to its humerus. The only other species of Scolopax from the West Indies is the extinct and presumably closely related S. anthonyi of Puerto Rico, which also had a relatively short carpometacarpus compared to continental congeners. Both Scolopax brachycarpa and S. anthonyi share more osteological characters with the Eurasian S. rusticola than with the North American S. minor.