Lice on helmeted guineafowls at five localities in South Africa

Abstract

A total of 234 helmeted guineafowls, Numida meleagris coronata , were examined for lice at five localities in South Africa. These were the Mountain Zebra National Park in the eastern Karoo, Cape Province; the Andries Vosloo Kudu Reserve and the farm Bucklands, in Valley Bushveld, eastern Cape Province; the Bontebok National Park, south-western Cape Province; and the southern part of the Kruger National Park, eastern Transvaal Lowveld. A total of eight louse species, comprising Amyrsidea desousai, Clayia theresae, Goniodes gigas, Goniodes numidae, Lipeurus numidae, Numidicola antennatus, Numidilipeurus lawrensis and Somaphantus lusius were recovered from the guineafowls. With the exception of A. desousai, which was not recovered from the guineafowls in the Bontebok National Park, all eight species were present on the birds at each locality. The prevalence of infestations on the birds at the various localities ranged from 99,2-100%, and the numbers of lice present on individual birds, from 0-3619. Goniodes spp. and N. antennatus were the most abundant and A. desousai the least.