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Earlier all chewing lice were considered to form the paraphyletic order Mallophaga while the sucking lice were thought to form the order Anoplura. Recent reclassification (Clay, 1970) has combined these orders into the order Phthiraptera. The bird lice belong to two suborders, Amblycera and Ischnocera, although some members of these suborders ...
The Mallophaga are a possibly paraphyletic [1] section of lice, known as chewing lice, biting lice, or bird lice, containing more than 3000 species.These lice are external parasites that feed mainly on birds, although some species also feed on mammals.
The average number of lice per host tends to be higher in large-bodied bird species than in small ones. [11] Lice have an aggregated distribution across bird individuals, i.e. most lice live on a few birds, while most birds are relatively free of lice. This pattern is more pronounced in territorial than in colonial—more social—bird species ...
Menoponidae is a monophyletic family of lice in the superfamily of chewing lice, Amblycera, often referred to as the chicken body louse family. [1] They are ectoparasites of a wide range of birds including chickens, which makes them important to understand for veterinary science and for human health. However, Menoponidae are not exclusive to ...
Many pelican parasites are found in other bird groups, but several lice are very host-specific. [108] Healthy pelicans can usually cope with their lice, but sick birds may carry hundreds of individuals, which hastens a sick bird's demise. The pouch louse Piagetiella peralis occurs in the pouch and so it cannot be removed by preening. While this ...
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]
Several other species of lice have been described from barn swallow hosts, including Brueelia domestica and Philopterus microsomaticus. [72] [73] The avian lice prefer to feed on white tail spots, and they are generally found more numerously on short-tailed males, indicating the function of unbroken white tail spots as a measure of quality. [74]
Brueelia (formerly spelled Brüelia) is a genus of bird lice in the family Philopteridae that infest Passerine (perching) birds. Lice in Brueelia are usually host specific, with more than 85% of described species each found on a single host bird species.