Roger D. Price

Bio: Roger D. Price is an academic researcher from University of Minnesota. The author has contributed to research in topics: Menoponidae & Mallophaga. The author has an hindex of 4, co-authored 23 publications receiving 77 citations.

The Genus Heteromenopon (Mallophaga: Menoponidae), with Description of a New Subgenus and Six New Species

Abstract: The genus Heteromenopon Carriker is divided into 2 subgenera, Heteromenopon with 10 species from Neotropical parrots, and KEAMENOPON , new subgenus, with 2 species from Australian and New Zealand parrots. New species and their type-hosts are: H. (H.) militaris from Ara militaris , H. (H.) jugularis from Brotogeris jugularis, H. (H.) viridicatae from Pyrrhura viridicata , H. (H.) pictae from Pyrrhura picta subandina , H. (H.) aurifrons from Psilopsiagon aurifrons , and H. (H.) pionopsittae from Pionopsitta haematotis pulchra . Heteromenopon (H.) macrurum (Eichler), H. (K.) kea (Kellogg), and H. (K.) psittacum (Le Souef and Bullen) represent new combinations. Descriptions and a key are given for the known species.

The colpocephalum (mallophaga: menoponidae) of the pelecaniformes

Abstract: Five species of the genus are discussed and illustrated, including a new species, C. occidentalis from Pelecanus occidentalis. The lectotype is designated for C. unciferum Kellogg, fixing the type-host as Pelecanus erythrorhynchos. A key is given to the species.

The Genus Psittacobrosus (Mallophaga: Menoponidae) of the Neotropical Psittaciformes

Abstract: Descriptions and keys are given for the known species. The 11 new species and their type-hosts are: hyacinthini from Anodorhynchus hyacinthinus, rubrogenysi from Ara rubrogenys, mitratae from Aratinga mitrata, farinosae from Amazona farinosa, chloropterae from Ara chloroptera, carrikeri from Ara militaris, brotogerisi from Brotogeris jugularis, pyrrhurae from Pyrrhura picta, molinae from Pyrrhura molinae, patagoni from Cyanoliseus patagonus, and aratingae from Aratinga aurea. There are 2 new synonymies: P. genitalis Carriker ( = Psittacobrosus nobilis Carriker) and P. forpi Carriker ( = Colpocephalum burhinoides Carriker).

The evolution of asymmetric genitalia in spiders and insects

Abstract: Asymmetries are a pervading phenomenon in otherwise bilaterally symmetric organisms and recent studies have highlighted their potential impact on our understanding of fundamental evolutionary processes like the evolution of development and the selection for morphological novelties caused by behavioural changes. One character system that is particularly promising in this respect is animal genitalia because (1) asymmetries in genitalia have evolved many times convergently, and (2) the taxonomic literature provides a tremendous amount of comparative data on these organs. This review is an attempt to focus attention on this promising but neglected topic by summarizing what we know about insect genital asymmetries, and by contrasting this with the situation in spiders, a group in which genital asymmetries are rare. In spiders, only four independent origins of genital asymmetry are known, two in Theridiidae (Tidarren/ Echinotheridion, Asygyna) and two in Pholcidae (Metagonia, Kaliana). In insects, on the other hand, genital asymmetry is a widespread and common phenomenon. In some insect orders or superorders, genital asymmetry is in the groundplan (e.g. Dictyoptera, Embiidina, Phasmatodea), in others it has evolved multiple times convergently (e.g. Coleoptera, Diptera, Heteroptera, Lepidoptera). Surprisingly, the huge but widely scattered information has not been reviewed for over 70 years. We combine data from studies on taxonomy, mating behaviour, genital mechanics, and phylogeny, to explain why genital asymmetry is so common in insects but so rare in spiders. We identify further fundamental differences between spider and insect genital asymmetries: (1) in most spiders, the direction of asymmetry is random, in most insects it is fixed; (2) in most spiders, asymmetry evolved first (or only) in the female while in insects genital asymmetry is overwhelmingly limited to the male. We thus propose that sexual selection has played a crucial role in the evolution of insect genital asymmetry, via a route that is accessible to insects but not to spiders. The centerpiece in this insect route to asymmetry is changes in mating position. Available evidence strongly suggests that the plesiomorphic neopteran mating position is a female-above position. Changes to male-dominated positions have occurred frequently, and some of the resulting positions require abdominal twisting, flexing, and asymmetric contact between male and female genitalia. Insects with their median unpaired sperm transfer organ may adopt a one-sided asymmetric position and still transfer the whole amount of sperm. Spiders with their paired sperm transfer organs can only mate in symmetrical or alternating two-sided positions without foregoing transfer of half of their sperm. We propose several hypotheses regarding the evolution of genital asymmetry. One explains morphological asymmetry as a mechanical compensation for evolutionary and behavioural changes of mating position. The morphological asymmetry per se is not advantageous, but rather the newly adopted mating position is. The second hypothesis predicts a split of functions between right and left sides. In contrast to the previous hypothesis, morphological asymmetry per se is advantageous. A third hypothesis evokes internal space constraints that favour asymmetric placement and morphology of internal organs and may secondarily affect the genitalia. Further hypotheses appear supported by a few exceptional cases only.

Can Bats Serve as Reservoirs for Arboviruses

Abstract: Bats are known to harbor and transmit many emerging and re-emerging viruses, many of which are extremely pathogenic in humans but do not cause overt pathology in their bat reservoir hosts: henipaviruses (Nipah and Hendra), filoviruses (Ebola and Marburg), and coronaviruses (SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV). Direct transmission cycles are often implicated in these outbreaks, with virus shed in bat feces, urine, and saliva. An additional mode of virus transmission between bats and humans requiring further exploration is the spread of disease via arthropod vectors. Despite the shared ecological niches that bats fill with many hematophagous arthropods (e.g., mosquitoes, ticks, biting midges, etc.) known to play a role in the transmission of medically important arboviruses, knowledge surrounding the potential for bats to act as reservoirs for arboviruses is limited. To this end, a comprehensive literature review was undertaken examining the current understanding and potential for bats to act as reservoirs for viruses transmitted by blood-feeding arthropods. Serosurveillance and viral isolation from either free-ranging or captive bats are described in relation to four arboviral groups (Bunyavirales, Flaviviridae, Reoviridae, Togaviridae). Further, ecological associations between bats and hematophagous viral vectors are characterized (e.g., bat bloodmeals in mosquitoes, ingestion of mosquitoes by bats, etc). Lastly, knowledge gaps related to hematophagous ectoparasites (bat bugs and bed bugs (Cimicidae) and bat flies (Nycteribiidae and Streblidae)), in addition to future directions for characterization of bat-vector-virus relationships are described.

Ecology of Western equine encephalomyelitis in the eastern United States.

Abstract: Publisher Summary Western equine encephalomyelitis (WEE) has been recognized as a serious public health problem in western North America for more than 30 years. WEE appears to exist endemically in numerous foci in that region, with a low incidence rate among humans. Severe outbreaks, however, have occurred periodically. For example, during 1941 a severe epidemic involving more than 3000 cases in humans occurred in North Dakota, Minnesota, and in the adjacent areas of Canada. The case fatality rate ranged from 8% to 15%. Epizootics among horses are more common. More than 600 cases of WEE were diagnosed among horses in the central and western United States during 1975. More recently, the virus of WEE has been found to be widely distributed in the eastern United States in regions along the Atlantic and Gulf seaboard; however, WEE has not been recognized as a public or veterinary health problem in the east. This situation presents an interesting epidemiological problem: a virus present in the different regions is causing disease in one area but not another area even though susceptible hosts are present. The reasons for the absence of WEE in humans and equines in the east are not clearly understood but probably are a reflection of parallel variations in the enzootic transmission cycles of this virus in different regions of the United States. Several reviews are available on the ecology of WEE virus in the areas of the western United States. This chapter examines data from studies on the ecology of WEE virus conducted in the eastern United States over the past two decades since the virus was first recognized in this region.

An annotated checklist of parasitic lice (Insecta: Phthiraptera) from the Galápagos Islands.

Abstract: We list all described species and subspecies of parasitic lice from the Galapagos 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. The checklist includes 17 endemic species (16 from birds, one from a mammal), 79 native species and subspecies (78 from birds, one from a mammal), and eight species and subspecies (five from birds, three from mammals) introduced by human agency. Nine species assigned in error to the Galapagos Islands in the literature are discussed and deleted from the fauna. For each valid species and subspecies we give information on its taxonomic history, type material, host associations, geographic distribution, biogeographical status, systematic relationships, and relevant literature references. We also give a brief summary of louse biology, and an account of the history of louse collecting, expeditions, collections, and research relating to Galapagos Islands lice. We include a host-parasite list, and a list of hosts which breed in the Galapagos Islands but without lice recorded from them. Also, we formally designate four lectotypes from the Kellogg Collection.