This article is about the animal. For the infestation known as pediculosis capitis, see Head lice infestation.
Head louse
Scientific classification
Domain:
Eukaryota
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Arthropoda
Class:
Insecta
Order:
Psocodea
Family:
Pediculidae
Genus:
Pediculus
Species:
P. humanus
Subspecies:
P. h. capitis
Trinomial name
Pediculus humanus capitis
De Geer, 1767
Synonyms
Pediculus capitis (De Geer, 1767)
Pediculus humanus capitis by Des Helmore
The head louse (Pediculus humanus capitis) is an obligate ectoparasite of humans.[1] Head lice are wingless insects that spend their entire lives on the human scalp and feed exclusively on human blood.[1] Humans are the only known hosts of this specific parasite, while chimpanzees and bonobos host a closely related species, Pediculus schaeffi. Other species of lice infest most orders of mammals and all orders of birds.
Lice differ from other hematophagic ectoparasites such as fleas in spending their entire lifecycle on a host.[2] Head lice cannot fly, and their short, stumpy legs render them incapable of jumping, or even walking efficiently on flat surfaces.[2]
The non-disease-carrying head louse differs from the related disease-carrying body louse (Pediculus humanus humanus) in preferring to attach eggs to scalp hair rather than to clothing. The two subspecies are morphologically almost identical, but do not normally interbreed. From genetic studies, they are thought to have diverged as subspecies about 30,000–110,000 years ago, when many humans began to wear a significant amount of clothing.[3][4] A much more distantly related species of hair-clinging louse, the pubic or crab louse (Pthirus pubis), also infests humans. It is morphologically different from the other two species and is much closer in appearance to the lice which infest other primates.[5] Louse infestation of the body is known as pediculosis, pediculosis capitis for head lice, pediculosis corporis for body lice, and phthiriasis for pubic lice.[6]
^ abBuxton, Patrick A. (1947). "The biology of Pediculus humanus". The Louse; an account of the lice which infest man, their medical importance and control (2nd ed.). London: Edward Arnold. pp. 24–72.
^ abMaunder, J. W. (1983). "The Appreciation of Lice". Proceedings of the Royal Institution of Great Britain. 55: 1–31.
^Kittler R, Kayser M, Stoneking M (August 2003). "Molecular evolution of Pediculus humanus and the origin of clothing". Current Biology. 13 (16): 1414–7. doi:10.1016/S0960-9822(03)00507-4. PMID 12932325.
^Stoneking, Mark (29 December 2004). "Erratum: Molecular Evolution of Pediculus humanus and the Origin of Clothing". Current Biology. 14 (24): 2309. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2004.12.024.
^Buxton, Patrick A. (1947). "The crab louse Phthirus pubis". The Louse; an account of the lice which infest man, their medical importance and control (2nd ed.). London: Edward Arnold. pp. 136–141.
^"pediculosis – Definition from the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary". Retrieved 2008-04-23.
The headlouse (Pediculus humanus capitis) is an obligate ectoparasite of humans. Head lice are wingless insects that spend their entire lives on the human...
Head lice infestation, also known as pediculosis capitis, is the infection of the head hair and scalp by the headlouse (Pediculus humanus capitis). Itching...
species of louse—the headlouse and the body louse are subspecies of Pediculus humanus; and the pubic louse, Pthirus pubis. The body louse has the smallest...
three lice which infest humans, the other two being the headlouse, and the crab louse or pubic louse. Body lice may lay eggs on the host hairs and clothing...
crab louse or pubic louse (Pthirus pubis) is an insect that is an obligate ectoparasite of humans, feeding exclusively on blood. The crab louse usually...
removal of head lice parasites from human hair. It has been debated and studied for centuries. However, the number of cases of human louse infestations...
of the human head with the specific headlouse. Pediculosis may be divided into the following types:: 446–8 Pediculosis capitis (Head lice infestation)...
clothing, and Pediculus humanus capitis, or the human headlouse. Pthirus pubis (the human pubic louse) is the cause of the condition known as crabs. These...
Linnaeus, 1758 – body louse Pediculus humanus capitis De Geer, 1767 – headlouse William H. Robinson (2005). "Phthiraptera". Handbook of Urban Insects...
A whale louse is a crustacean of the family Cyamidae. Despite the name, it is not a true louse (which are insects), but rather is related to the skeleton...
Pediculus humanus humanus Linnaeus, 1758 – the body louse Pediculus humanus capitis De Geer, 1767 – the headlouse Pediculus mjobergi Ferris, 1916 Pediculus schaeffi...
(also known as "crabs" and "pubic lice") is an infestation by the pubic louse, Pthirus pubis, a wingless insect which feeds on blood and lays its eggs...
that dating the split of the ancestral human louse into two species, the headlouse and the pubic louse, would date the loss of body hair in human ancestors...
a headlouse. Only the presence of live crawling lice (nymph or imago) constitutes an infestation. Much of the controversy surrounding school head lice...
porocephaliasis can penetrate viscerally) and includes those involving mites, ticks, head lice and bed bugs. An internal (or endoparasitic) infestation is a condition...
Babol Noshirvani University of Technology, Iran Nit, the egg case of a headlouse Nit (unit), of luminance Nat (unit) or nit, natural unit of information...
certain areas such as the wrists, between fingers, or along the waistline. The head may be affected, but this is typically only in young children. The itch is...
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