The flies from the family Hippoboscidae (Diptera) are specialized hematophagous ectoparasites and transmit many dangerous diseases. The genus Lipoptena Nitzsch, 1818 is a group of keds, parasitic mainly on Bovidae and Cervidae. It includes 27 species and is divided into two groups. The main difference between them is the degree of pulvilli reduction. At present, the classification of morphological groups within Lipoptena requires clarification. One of the Lipoptena species – L. paradoxa Newstead, 1907 – is a common parasite of a number of antelopes and is widely spread over Africa south of the Sahara. Despite the widespread study of this species, the classical description of its morphology, allowing its identification and comparison with modern studies, remains insufficient. Identification is also complicated by the lack of complete drawings. Our results demonstrate that the previously identified "capreoli" group has proven to be a composite. Accordingly, the species L. annalizeae Visagie, 1992, L. binocula (Speiser, 1908), L. iniqua Maa, 1969, L. paradoxa, and L. sepiacea Speiser, 1905 can be separated from it into a species group “echestypus” based on the fact that, unlike other species of the genus, their ocelli are absent, and their antennae are extremely small. Discrepancies with literature data on L. paradoxa morphology have been clarified.
Yatsuk et al. (Mon,) studied this question.