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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.
Scientists have long debated whether human body lice might have helped drive the rapid spread of the bacteria responsible for the deadly plague in the Middle Ages, known as the Black Death. It’s ...
Head lice are spread by direct contact with the hair of someone who is infected. [4] The cause of head lice infestations in children is not related to cleanliness. [5] Other animals, such as cats and dogs, do not play a role in transmission. [4] Head lice feed only on human blood and are only able to survive on human head hair.
Lice have been the subject of significant DNA research in the 2000s that led to discoveries on human evolution. The three species of sucking lice that parasitize human beings belong to two genera, Pediculus and Pthirus: head lice (Pediculus humanus capitis), body lice (Pediculus humanus humanus), and pubic lice (Pthirus pubis).
These parasitic insects burrow deeply to the root of hair and suck the blood from people’s scalps. Female lice also attach sticky unhatched eggs called nits to hair.
For scientists interested in how humankind evolved and spread around the globe, the blood-sucking parasite — officially called Pediculus humanus — also contains a lode of genetic information ...
They can cause localized skin irritations and are vectors of several blood-borne diseases. Children appear particularly susceptible to attracting lice, possibly due to their fine hair. At least three species or subspecies of Anoplura are parasites of humans; the human condition of being infested with sucking lice is called pediculosis.
The body louse (Pediculus humanus humanus, also known as Pediculus humanus corporis) or the cootie is a hematophagic ectoparasite louse that infests humans. [1] It is one of three lice which infest humans, the other two being the head louse, and the crab louse or pubic louse.