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Head louse egg (nit) attached to hair shaft of host. Like most insects, head lice are oviparous. Females lay about three or four eggs per day. Louse eggs (also known as nits), are attached near the base of a host hair shaft. [11] [12] Eggs are usually laid on the base of the hair, 3–5 mm off the scalp surface.
A louse's egg is commonly called a nit. Many lice attach their eggs to their hosts' hair with specialized saliva ; the saliva/hair bond is very difficult to sever without specialized products. Lice inhabiting birds, however, may simply leave their eggs in parts of the body inaccessible to preening , such as the interior of feather shafts.
The life cycle of the body louse consists of three stages: egg, nymph, and adult. Eggs (also called nits, see head louse nits) are attached to the clothes or hairs by the female louse, using a secretion of the accessory glands that holds the egg in place until it hatches, while the nits (empty egg shells) may remain for months on the clothing ...
Between the treatments, it is advised to wet the hair and comb daily with a louse-comb to remove the hatching lice. If no living lice are found, the treatment was successful, even if nits (eggs) are visible on the hair. If living lice are still present, the treatment is repeated using an anti-louse product with a different active ingredient.
Pubic lice (Pthirus pubis) have three stages: the egg (also called a nit), the nymph, and the adult. They can be hard to see and are found firmly attached to the hair shaft. They are oval and usually yellow to white. Pubic lice nits take about 6–10 days to hatch. The nymph is an immature louse that hatches from the nit (egg).
Pediculus humanus is divided into two subspecies, Pediculus humanus humanus, or the human body louse, sometimes nicknamed "the seam squirrel" for its habit of laying of eggs in the seams of clothing, and Pediculus humanus capitis, or the human head louse. Pthirus pubis (the human pubic louse) is the cause of the condition known as crabs.
The presence of nits alone, however, is not an accurate indicator of an active head louse infestation. Generally, white nits are empty egg casings, while brown nits may still contain viable louse larva. One way of determining the nit is to squeeze it between two fingernails; it gives a characteristic snapping pop sound as the egg bursts.
Haematopinus suis, the hog louse, is one of the largest members of the louse suborder Anoplura, which consists of sucking lice that commonly afflict a number of mammals. H. suis is found almost solely on the skin surface of swine , and takes several blood meals a day from its host. [ 1 ]