New record of Anaticola mergiserrati (Phthiraptera: Ischnocera: Philopteridae) from Sindh Province, Pakistan, with its detailed morpho-taxonomy

Abstract

During the chewing lice examination on ducks for the genus Anaticola Clay, 25 ducks of five species (5 birds for each species) were examined from different water bodies of Sindh Province of Pakistan. A total of 65 specimens of chewing lice of genus Anaticola were collected including two species, A. crassicornis (Scopoli, 1773) and A. mergiserrati (De Geer, 1778) from only two species of ducks, common teal Anas crecca (L.) and common pochard Aythya ferina (L.). It is recovered for the first time from a duck of the genus Anas, which make the new host record in the world and first time reported from Pakistan making new country record.