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Cave-dwelling species of Brasineura Silva-Neto & García Aldrete, 2015 (Psocodea: Ptiloneuridae) from southwestern Brazil: new species, wing variation, and new geographic and troglophile status records

Natália REATEGUI, Antoniel Francisco PEREIRA, Rodrigo Lopes FERREIRA, Rafael BOLDRINI, José Albertino RAFAEL & Alberto Moreira da SILVA-NETO

en European Journal of Taxonomy 1034 (103) - Pages 103-118

Published on 15 January 2026

Three new troglophilic species of Brasineura Silva-Neto & García Aldrete, 2015 are described and illustrated herein: Brasineura hpba Reategui, Pereira, Rafael & Silva-Netosp. nov., B. renaissance Reategui, Pereira, Rafael & Silva-Neto sp. nov., and B. vicentoi Reategui, Pereira, Rafael & Silva-Neto sp. nov. Intraspecific variation in wing venation is documented for the newly described taxa. Additionally, we report for the first time the occurrence of B. serranortensis Silva-Neto, García Aldrete & Rafael, 2016 and B.spinosa Silva-Neto, García Aldrete & Rafael, 2018 within cave environments. An updated distribution map of the species of Brasineura in Brazil is provided, along with an identification key based on male morphological characters. With the inclusion of these new records, the number of the species of Brasineura known from Brazil rises to ten. This study significantly advances the understanding of the diversity and distribution of free-living lice associated with Brazilian cave ecosystems.


Keywords:

Troglophilic, free-living lice, Neotropical, Psocomorpha

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