{{Short description|Genus of lice}} {{Use New Zealand English|date=July 2024}} {{automatic taxobox |image=Apterygon mirum NHMUK010651591 (cropped).jpg |image_caption=Female and male ''A. mirum'' |taxon=Apterygon |authority=Clay, 1961 |type_species=''Apterygon mirum'' |type_species_authority=Clay, 1961 |subdivision_ranks=Species |subdivision={{linked species list |Apterygon dumosum {{!}} A. dumosum | Tandan, 1972 |Apterygon hintoni {{!}} A. hintoni | Clay, 1966 |Apterygon mirum {{!}} A. mirum | Clay, 1961 |Apterygon okarito {{!}} A. okarito | Palma & Price, 2004}} }}
'''''Apterygon''''' is a genus of louse. It is endemic to New Zealand and is an ectoparasite of kiwi birds (''Apteryx'').<ref name=Palma2017 /> Theresa Clay circumscribed the genus in 1961.<ref name=Clay1961 /> In 1947, she had referred to this genus as "New Genus D", but it was not formally named as she needed to confirm the host of her specimen as well as additional material.<ref name=Clay1961 /><ref name=Clay1947/>
==Description== ''Apterygon'' heads lack preocular slits and the female genital chamber has a cellular circular structure.<ref name=Clay1969/> They lack eyes, have a reduced hypopharynx and a well developed postnotum.<ref name=Tandan1972/>
==Species== {{As of|2017}}, four species are recognized in this genus.<ref name=Palma2017 />
''A. mirum'', the type species of this genus, was described by Clay in the same paper which named the genus ''Apterygon''. The holotype came from a North Island brown kiwi which was killed by a car in Ōpōtiki, New Zealand.<ref name=Clay1961 /> It is found in New Zealand's North Island.<ref name=Palma2017 />
Clay described a second species for this genus, ''A. hintoni'', in 1966. Its type host was a great spotted kiwi and its type locality was Nelson, New Zealand.<ref name="Clay1966" /> It is found in New Zealand's South Island.<ref name=Palma2017 />
In 1972, B. K. Tandan described a third species, ''A. dumosum'', based on specimens from a Stewart Island brown kiwi on Stewart Island, New Zealand.<ref name=Tandan1972 /> It is found throughout New Zealand.<ref name=Palma2017 /> In addition to the Stewart Island brown kiwi, it parasitizes the South Island brown kiwi and the little spotted kiwi.<ref name=Palma2017 />
The fourth species to be described was ''A. okarito'', whose description by Ricardo L. Palma and Roger D. Price was published in 2004. Its type host is the Okarito kiwi, found in Ōkārito, New Zealand.<ref name=Palma2004 /> It is only found in Westland in New Zealand's South Island.<ref name=Palma2017 />
==Hosts== Lice in this genus are ectoparasites of all species of kiwi (''Apteryx''). The only other lice which parasitize kiwi are in the subgenus ''Rallicola'' (''Aptericola'').<ref name=Palma2017 />
==References== {{Reflist|refs= <ref name=Clay1947>{{cite journal|last1=Clay|first1=Theresa|title=A Preliminary Key to the Genera of the Menoponidae (Mallophaga)|journal=Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London|date=1947|volume=117|issue=2–3|pages=457–477|doi=10.1111/j.1096-3642.1947.tb00532.x}}</ref>
<ref name=Clay1961>{{cite journal|last1=Clay|first1=Theresa|title=A new genus and species of Menoponidae (Mallophaga, Insecta) from ''Apteryx''|journal=Annals and Magazine of Natural History|date=1960|volume=3|issue=33|pages=571–576|doi=10.1080/00222936008651059|series=Series 13|orig-year=1961|url=http://www.phthiraptera.info/Publications/0553.pdf|access-date=2017-11-04|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171107025740/http://www.phthiraptera.info/Publications/0553.pdf|archive-date=2017-11-07|url-status=dead}}</ref>
<ref name="Clay1966">{{cite journal|last1=Clay|first1=Theresa|title=A New Species of ''Apterygon'' (Mallophaga: Menoponidae)|journal=The Entomologist|date=1966|volume=99|pages=292–293|url=http://www.phthiraptera.info/Publications/4347.pdf|access-date=2017-11-04|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171107023801/http://www.phthiraptera.info/Publications/4347.pdf|archive-date=2017-11-07|url-status=dead}}</ref>
<ref name=Clay1969>{{cite journal|last1=Clay|first1=Theresa|title=A key to the genera of the Menoponidae (Amblycera: Mallophaga: Insecta)|journal=Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History)|date=1969|volume=24|issue=1|url=https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/2314106|series=Entomology|pages=3–26|doi=10.5962/bhl.part.1517|doi-access=free}}</ref>
<ref name=Palma2004>{{cite journal|last1=Palma|first1=Ricardo L.|last2=Price|first2=Roger D.|title=''Apterygon okarito'' a new species of chewing louse (Insecta: Phthiraptera: Menoponidae) from the Okarito brown kiwi (Aves: Apterygiformes: Apterygidae)|journal=New Zealand Journal of Zoology|date=2004|volume=31|issue=1|pages=67–73|doi=10.1080/03014223.2004.9518361|s2cid=85317277 |doi-access=}}</ref>
<ref name=Palma2017>{{cite book|last1=Palma|first1=Ricardo L.|title=Phthiraptera (Insecta) A catalogue of parasitic lice from New Zealand|date=2017|publisher=Landcare Research|location=Lincoln, New Zealand|isbn=978-0-947525-19-4|doi-access=free|doi=10.7931/J2/FNZ.76|series=Fauna of New Zealand|volume=76|pages=20, 39–41, 245}}</ref>
<ref name=Tandan1972>{{cite journal|last1=Tandan|first1=B. K.|title=The Species of ''Apterygon'' (Insecta: Phthiraptera: Amblycera) Parasitic on Kiwis (''Apteryx'')|journal=New Zealand Journal of Science|date=1972|volume=15|issue=1|pages=52–69|url=http://darwin.biology.utah.edu/pubshtml/LicePubPages/LicePDF%27s/1972/Tandan1972speciesApterygon.pdf|access-date=2017-11-04|archive-date=2011-11-11|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111111004733/http://darwin.biology.utah.edu/PubsHTML/LicePubPages/LicePDF%27s/1972/Tandan1972speciesApterygon.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>
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Category:Lice Category:Insect genera Category:Parasites of birds Category:Endemic insects of New Zealand