| abstract | The new genus Ovofreyana gen. n. is established. This genus resembles by general appearance the genus Hemifreyana Gaud et Mouchet, 1959 but differs from it by characters as follows. In both sexes: prodorsal shield wide triangular, lateral membranes of hysterosoma are relatively narrow and parallel in general to the lateral contour of the proper hysterosoma, lateral setae e2 and f2 are lanceolate in shape; In males: true opisthosomal lobes are obliterated and represented by a pair of rectangular membranous processes carrying the setae ps1 only. It is suggested that similarity of Ovofreyana to Hemifreyana is a result of convergence and the genus Ovofreyana is really most closely related in origin to the genus Bychovskiata Dubinin, 1951 but highly specialized. The genus includes 3 species associated exclusively with lapwings (Charadriiformes: Charadriidae: Vanellinae). The type species Ovofreyana leclerci (Trouessart, 1886) comb. n. is redescribed. The redescription is based on type materials. Hemifreyana kurbanovae Mironov, 1987 is synonymized to O. leclerci. Two new species are described: Ovofreyana africana sp. n. from lapwings Yanellus senegallus (type host), V. melanopterus, Y. lugubris, V. coronatus, and O. gladifera sp. n. from V. duvaucelli (type host) and V. miles. The main characters, that differ O. gladifera from other species, are the simple lanceolate setae e2 in both sexes and long needle-like setae h1 in females. In O. keclerci and O. africana the setae e2 are bifurcate on apex and setae h1 are small hair-like. These two species differ from one another by humeral shields fused with hysteronotal shield in both sexes of O. leclerci and free humeral shields in both sexes of O. africana. |