A new species of louse fly, Ornithomya Latreille, 1802 (Diptera: Hippoboscidae), from the Russian far East

Louse flies (Diptera: Hippoboscidae) are specialized ectoparasites of birds, influencing host health and potentially acting as vectors of pathogens. A new species of the genus Ornithomya Latreille, 1802 (Diptera: Hippoboscidae), Ornithomya panovi sp. n., is described from specimens collected in Lazovsky Nature Reserve (Russia). O. panovi sp. n. belongs to the avicularia species-group and is distinguished from other known Ornithomya species inhabiting Russia and Japan by several morphological features: reduction of tergite 4, wing length, ratio of costal vein sections between junctions R1 and R2+3 and between junctions R2+3 and R4+5 and arrangement of wing microtrichia as well as by genetic distances. This discovery expands our knowledge of the region's parasite biodiversity and highlights the need for continued faunistic surveys in the Russian Far East.