First record of Myophthiria zeylanica Maa, 1980 (Diptera: Hippoboscidae) from India

Jozef Oboňa; Arockianathan Samson; Kesavan Rishi; Anbazhagan Abinesh; Elangovan Vignesh; Moorthi Saran; Mohammed Shahir; Nizamudheen Moinudheen; Azad Kamil

Jozef Oboňa https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1185-658X; Arockianathan Samson https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0804-7941; Kesavan Rishi https://orcid.org/0009-0003-9939-968X; Anbazhagan Abinesh https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0337-7666; Elangovan Vignesh https://orcid.org/0009-0004-6377-9864; Moorthi Saran https://orcid.org/0009-0005-3135-1369; Mohammed Shahir https://orcid.org/0009-0008-3243-9997; Nizamudheen Moinudheen https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5887-2395; Azad Kamil

Volume 48 (Issue 5): 115–119 · 4 May 2026

Abstract: Myophthiria is a highly specialised genus of brachypterous hippoboscid flies parasitising swifts and swiftlets (Apodidae). Myophthiria zeylanica Maa, 1980 has been considered endemic to Sri Lanka. Here we report the first record of M. zeylanica from India, based on a single female collected from an Indian swiftlet (Aerodramus unicolor (Jerdon, 1840)) found dead during a field visit in the Nilgiri Hills, Tamil Nadu, at 2238 m a.s.l. The specimen was identified based on external morphology following Maa (1980). This record provides new distributional data for this rarely collected swiftlet-associated louse-fly.

Keywords: Apodidae, host association, louse fly, new distributional data

References [6]

Bequaert J.C. 1954 The Hippoboscoidea or louse flies (Diptera) of mammals and birds. Part II. Taxonomy, evolution, and revision of American genera and species. Entomologica Americana 34: 1–232.

Dick C.W. 2018 Checklist of world Hippoboscidae (Diptera: Hippoboscoidea). Department of Zoology, Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, 7 pp.

Maa T.C. 1963 Genera and species of Hippoboscidae (Diptera): types, synonymy, habitats and natural groupings. Pacific Insects Monograph 6: 1–186. https://doi.org/10.1080/00222936308651428

Maa T.C. 1969 A revised checklist and concise host index of Hippoboscidae (Diptera). Pacific Insects Monograph 20: 261–299.

Maa T.C. 1980 A preliminary revision of the genus Myophthiria Rondani (Diptera: Hippoboscidae). Revue suisse de Zoologie 87: 835–861. https://doi.org/10.5962/bhl.part.85555

Maity A., Naskar A., Mitra S., Chakraborty A., Hazra S., Banerjee D. 2014 Indian louse flies (Insecta: Diptera: Hippoboscidae). Diptera Section, Zoological Survey of India, M Block, New Alipore, Kolkata, 6 pp.

Additional information

Received: 9 February 2026 · Accepted: 7 April 2026

Editor: Mario Langourov

Conflicts of interest:
No potential conflict of interest has been reported by the authors, reviewers, or subject editor. As a member of the editorial board Jozef Oboňa recused himself from discussions and decisions on the manuscript.

Authors’ contributions (using CrediT ↗):
Jozef Oboňa: investigation, methodology, writing—original draft; Arockianathan Samson: investigation, writing—original draft; Kesavan Rishi: investigation, writing—original draft; Anbazhagan Abinesh: investigation, writing—original draft; Elangovan Vignesh: investigation, writing—original draft; Mohammed Shahir: investigation, writing—original draft; Nizamudheen Moinudheen: investigation, methodology, writing—original draft; Azad Kamil: investigation, writing—original draft.