Digestive system of poultry lice Lipeurus lawrensis tropicalis (Phthiraptera: Ischnocera)

The alimentary canal of Lipeurus lawrensis tropicalis Peters has the three typical regions but differs from that of other species of Mallophaga in some respect. The posterior region of the mid-gut is slightly broader in female than in male. The mid-gut was found to have higher epithelium not in the anterior two-thirds but in the anterior one-third and in the posterior one-third part. The epithelium is higher and convoluted in the anterior part of the hind-gut region and is greatly reduced in its posterior part. The salivary apparatus consists of a pair of salivary glands and ducts, a pair of salivary reservoirs and ducts and a salivarium. Four long blind Malpighian tubules, one dorsal, one ventral and two lateral, arise from the junction of mid- and hind-gut. Each is divisible into three distinct parts in both sexes and is without any pigmentation.