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Louse (pl.: lice) is the common name for any member of the clade Phthiraptera, which contains nearly 5,000 species of wingless parasitic insects.Phthiraptera has variously been recognized as an order, infraorder, or a parvorder, as a result of developments in phylogenetic research.
Articles relating to the Lice (clade Phthiraptera), a group which contains nearly 5,000 species of wingless parasitic insects. Phthiraptera has variously been recognized as an order , infraorder , or a parvorder , as a result of developments in phylogenetic research.
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.
The legs are slender and adapted for jumping, rather than gripping, as in the true lice. [dubious – discuss] The abdomen has nine segments, and no cerci. [11] There is often considerable variation in the appearance of individuals within the same species. Many have no wings or ovipositors, and may have a different shape to the thorax.
Sucking lice (Anoplura, formerly known as Siphunculata) have around 500 species and represent the smaller of the two traditional superfamilies of lice. As opposed to the paraphyletic chewing lice , which are now divided among three suborders , the sucking lice are monophyletic .
There are roughly 5,000 species of lice described, with 4,000 parasitizing birds and an additional 800 special parasites of mammals worldwide. [20] Lice on mammals originate on a common ancestor that lived on Afrotheria that originally acquired it from via host-switching from an ancient avian host. [21]
While the broader phylogeny of the Oniscideans has not been settled, eleven infraorders/sections are agreed on with 3,937 species validated in scientific literature in 2004 [5] and 3,710 species in 2014 out of an estimated total of 5,000–7,000 species extant worldwide. [6]
Sea lice (singular: sea louse) are copepods (small crustaceans) of the family Caligidae within the order Siphonostomatoida. They are marine ectoparasites (external parasites) that feed on the mucus, epidermal tissue, and blood of host fish. The roughly 559 species in 37 genera include around 162 Lepeophtheirus and 268 Caligus species.