First confirmed nest of Long-billed Curlew (Numenius americanus) in roadside brush stubble

Long-billed Curlew (Numenius americanus) typically nests in open grass habitat, such as native grassland, hayfields, or cow pasture. In May 2019, we discovered a Long-billed Curlew nest in the dense roadside shrub stubble near Prince George, British Columbia. The shrub stubble substrate for this nest appeared to be taller and denser than adjacent hayfields, which reduced the visibility of the nest site. The eggs in this nest were the first to hatch of the 11 curlew nests we monitored in the area.

Morphological and molecular data on a new species of Plagiorhynchus Lühe, 1911 (Acanthocephala: Plagiorhynchidae) from the long-billed curlew (Numenius americanus) from northern Mexico

A new species of the genus Plagiorhynchus Lühe, 1911 from the intestine of the long-billed curlew (Numenius americanus) from northern Mexico is described. Plagiorhynchus (Plagiorhynchus) aznari n. sp. is morphologically distinguished from other congeneric species from the Americas by having a trunk expanded anteriorly and a cylindrical proboscis, armed with 19 longitudinal rows of hooks, with 14–15 hooks each row. Nearly complete sequences of the small subunit and large subunit of the nuclear ribosomal DNA of the new species were determined and compared with available sequences from GenBank. Phylogenetic analyses inferred from the two molecular markers consistently showed that P. (Plagiorhynchus) aznari n. sp. is closely related to P. (Plagiorhynchus) allisonae, and this clade is sister to a clade formed by P. (Prosthorhynchus) transversus and P. (Prosthorhynchus) cylindraceus from Plagiorhynchidae. The new species represents the second record of the genus in Mexico and the fourth species in the Americas. The phylogenetic relationships among the members of the order Polymorphida in this study provide significant insights into the evolution of ecological associations between parasites and their definitive hosts. Our analyses suggest that the colonization of marine mammals, fish-eating birds and waterfowl in Polymorphidae might have occurred independently, from a common ancestor of Centrorhynchidae and Plagiorhynchidae that colonized terrestrial birds and mammals.

The “Very Thankless Task”: Revision of Lunaceps Clay and Meinertzhagen, 1939 (Insecta: Phthiraptera: Ischnocera: Philopteridae), with descriptions of six new species and one new subspecies

The louse genus Lunaceps Clay and Meinertzhagen, 1939, parasitic on shorebirds (Charadriiformes: Scolopacidae) is re-vised. Six new species and one new subspecies of Lunaceps Clay and Meinertzhagen, 1939 parasitic on shorebirds (Char-adriiformes, Scolopacidae) are described. They are L. enigmaticus sp. nov. from Stilt Sandpiper Micropalama himantopus(Bonaparte, 1826), L. kukri sp. nov. from Long-billed Curlew Numenius americanus Bechstein, 1812, L. mintoni sp. nov.from Great Knot Calidris tenuirostris (Horsfield, 1821), L. rothkoi sp. nov. from Buff-breasted Sandpiper Tryngites sub-ruficollis (Vieillot, 1819), L. schismatus sp. nov. from Dunlin Calidris alpina (Linnaeus, 1758), L. superciliosus fromSharp-tailed Sandpiper Calidris acuminata (Horsfield, 1821) and Long-toed Stint Calidris subminuta (Middendorff,1853), and L. numenii madagascariensis ssp. nov. from Far Eastern Curlew Numenius madagascariensis (Linnaeus,1766). Furthermore, the species L. cabanisi Timmermann, 1954, and L. pusillus are placed as new junior synonyms of L.incoenis (Kellogg and Chapman, 1899); the species L. haematopi Timmermann, 1954, L. oliveri Timmermann, 1954, andL. husainii Ansari, 1956, are placed as new junior synonyms of L. numenii numenii (Denny, 1842), L. numenii phaeopi(Denny, 1842), and L. falcinellus Timmermann, 1954, respectively, and the subspecies L. holophaeus timmermanniBechet, 1968, is regarded as a new junior synonym of L. falcinellus Timmermann, 1954. Lunaceps limosella limosaBechet, 1968, which was previously considered a junior synonym of L limosella Timmermann, 1954, is resurrected as avalid species. Lunaceps wilsoni Carriker, 1956, is considered a nomen dubium, and L. parabolicus Eichler (in Nietham-mer), 1953, is removed to the genus Quadraceps Clay and Meinertzhagen, 1939 as Quadraceps parabolicus comb. nov.,although its status in Quadraceps needs further attention. All species and subspecies of Lunaceps are illustrated and rede-scribed, and a key is provided for their identification. Three populations, from which only poor or limited data are available, are placed as incerta sedis.