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Many lice are specific to a single species of host and have co-evolved with it. In some cases, they live on only a particular part of the body. Some animals are known to host up to fifteen different species, although one to three is typical for mammals, and two to six for birds. Lice generally cannot survive for long if removed from their host. [5]
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.
Other lice that infest humans are the body louse and the crab louse (aka pubic lice). The claws of these three species are adapted to attach to specific hair diameters. [18] Pubic lice are most often spread by sexual contact with an infested person. [19] Body lice can be found on clothing and they are not known to burrow into the skin. [20]
Genera and species within the family Menoponidae are identified by their short antennae, concealed in grooves behind the eyes. [4] To the untrained eye, it may appear as though they have no antennae. [4] Most lice also further specialize to specific regions on their hosts such as the fluff at the base of the tail, the head, and the shaft. [5]
Most adult species are light tan to brown in color and are usually 1–4 mm in length, although some livestock species can grow to be 5–7 mm, and some wild bird species can even get to 10 mm. [2] Mallophaga are often adapted to live on a specific part of their host and typically spend their entire lives on a single host.
Having coevolved with their specific host(s), phylogenetic relationships among bird lice are sometimes of use when trying to determine phylogenetic relationships among birds. [3] Earlier all chewing lice were considered to form the paraphyletic order Mallophaga while the sucking lice were thought to form the order Anoplura. Recent ...
Sea lice, particularly L. salmonis and various Caligus species, including C. clemensi and C. rogercresseyi, can cause deadly infestations of both farm-grown and wild salmon. [3] [30] Sea lice migrate and latch onto the skin of wild salmon during free-swimming, planktonic nauplii and copepodid larval stages, which can persist for several days.
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. The Anoplura are all blood-feeding ectoparasites of mammals.