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Information about Louse

For the common human affliction, see head louse, for treatment see treatment of human head lice. The Asian nation is spelled Laos.
Phthiraptera
Enlarge picture
Light micrograph of Fahrenholzia pinnata

Light micrograph of Fahrenholzia pinnata
Scientific classification
Kingdom:Animalia
Phylum:Arthropoda
Class:Insecta
Subclass:Pterygota
Infraclass:Neoptera
Order:Phthiraptera
Haeckel, 1896
Suborders


Anoplura
Rhyncophthirina
Ischnocera
Amblycera


Lice (singular: louse), also known as fly babies, (order Phthiraptera) are an order of over 3,000 species of wingless insects. They are obligate ectoparasites of every mammalian and avian order, with the notable exceptions of Monotremata (the platypus and the echidnas or spiny anteaters) and Chiroptera (bats).

Description

Lice are highly specialized based on the host species and many species specifically only feed on certain areas of their host's body. As lice spend their whole life on the host they have developed adaptations which enable them to maintain a close contact with the host. These adaptations are reflected in their size (0.5–8 mm), stout legs, and claws which are adapted to cling tightly to hair, fur and feathers, wingless and dorsoventrally flattened.

Lice feed on skin (epidermal) debris, feather parts, sebaceous secretions and blood. A louse's colour varies from pale beige to dark grey; however, if feeding on blood, it may become considerably darker.

A louse egg is commonly called a nit. Lice attach their eggs to their host's hair with specialized saliva which results in a bond that is very difficult to separate without specialized products.

Classification

The order has traditionally been divided into two suborders; the sucking lice (Anoplura) and chewing lice (Mallophaga), however, recent classifications suggest that the Mallophaga are paraphyletic and four suborders are now recognised:

Lice and humans

Humans are unique in they host three different kinds of lice: head lice, body lice (which live mainly in clothing), and pubic lice. The DNA differences between head lice and body lice provides corroborating evidence that humans started wearing clothes approximately 72,000 years ago [1].

Recent DNA evidence suggests that pubic lice spread to the ancestors of humans approximately 3.3 million years ago from the ancestors of gorillas by sharing the same bed or other communal areas with them, and are more closely related to lice endemic to gorillas than to other lice species infesting humans [2].

Gallery




The chewing louse Damalinia limbata is found on Angora goats. The male louse (right) is typically smaller than the female (left), whose posterior margin of the abdomen is more rounded than those of male lice.

Diagram of a louse, by Robert Hooke, 1667.


External links

References

1. ^ John Travis (2003-08-23). The naked truth? Lice hint at a recent origin of clothing 164 (8): 118. 
2. ^ David L Reed, Jessica E Light, Julie M Allen and Jeremy J Kirchman. Pair of lice lost or parasites regained: the evolutionary history of anthropoid primate lice. BMC Biology 5: 7. DOI:10.1186/1741-7007-5-7. 
Pediculus humanus
Linnaeus, 1758
Trinomial name
Pediculus humanus capitis
Charles De Geer, 1767

Synonyms

Pediculus capitis (Charles De Geer, 1767)

The head louse (
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citation, footnoting or external linking.


There are various methods for treating head lice, developed since ancient Egyptian times when lice first became a problem for humans.
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Motto
ສັນຕິພາບ ເອກະລາດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ເອກະພາບ
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F. pinnata

Binomial name
Fahrenholzia pinnata
Kellogg and Ferris, 1915 [1]

Fahrenholzia pinnata is a type of louse. Its typical host is a rodent [2].
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Scientific classification or biological classification is a method by which biologists group and categorize species of organisms. Scientific classification also can be called scientific taxonomy, but should be distinguished from folk taxonomy, which lacks scientific basis.
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Arthropoda
Latreille, 1829

Subphyla and Classes
  • Subphylum Trilobitomorpha
  • Trilobita - trilobites (extinct)
  • Subphylum Chelicerata

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Insecta
Linnaeus, 1758

Orders
Subclass Apterygota
* Archaeognatha (bristletails)
* Thysanura (silverfish)
Subclass Pterygota
* Infraclass Paleoptera (Probably paraphyletic)

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Neoptera
Martynov, 1923

Superorders and orders

Superorder Exopterygota
  • Grylloblattodea (ice-crawlers)
  • Mantophasmatodea (gladiators)
  • Plecoptera (stoneflies)
  • Embioptera (webspinners)
  • Zoraptera (angel insects)

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Ernst Haeckel

Born January 16 1834(1834--)

Died July 9 1919 (aged 85)

Nationality

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Anoplura

Families

Echinophthiriidae (seal lice)
Enderleinellidae
Haematopinidae (ungulate lice)
Hamophthiriidae
Hoplopleuridae (armoured lice)
Hybothiridae
Linognathidae (pale lice)
Microthoraciidae
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Rhynchophthirina

Family: Haematomyzidae

Genus: Haematomyzus

Species
H. elephantis
H. hopkinsi
H.
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Ischnocera

Families

See text.

The Ischnocera is a large suborder of lice mostly parasitic on birds but including a large family (the Trichodectidae) parasitic on mammals.
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Amblycera

Families
See text.

The Amblycera are a large suborder of lice, parasitic on both birds and mammals. The Amblycera are considered the most primitive suborder of lice.
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order (Latin: ordo, plural ordines) is a rank between class and family (termed a taxon at that rank). The superorder is a rank between class and order. Exact details of formal nomenclature depend on the Nomenclature Code which applies.
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species is one of the basic units of biological classification. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring.
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Insecta
Linnaeus, 1758

Orders
Subclass Apterygota
* Archaeognatha (bristletails)
* Thysanura (silverfish)
Subclass Pterygota
* Infraclass Paleoptera (Probably paraphyletic)

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Parasitism is one version of symbiosis ("living together"), a phenomenon in which two organisms which are phylogenetically unrelated co-exist over a prolonged period of time, usually the lifetime of one of the individuals.
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Mammalia
Linnaeus, 1758

Subclasses & Infraclasses
  • Subclass †Allotheria*
  • Subclass Prototheria
  • Subclass Theria

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Aves
Linnaeus, 1758

Orders

About two dozen - see section below

Birds (class Aves) are bipedal, warm-blooded, egg-laying vertebrate animals.
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Monotremata
C.L. Bonaparte, 1837

Families

†Kollikodontidae
Ornithorhynchidae
Tachyglossidae
†Steropodontidae
Monotremes (from the Greek monos 'single' + trema
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Tachyglossidae
Gill, 1872

Species

Genus Tachyglossus
   T. aculeatus
Genus Zaglossus
   Z. attenboroughi
   Z. bruijnii
   Z.
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BAT may refer to:
  • Baby AT, a variant of the AT form factor
  • Bangor Area Transit
  • B.A.T., "Bureau of Astral Troubleshooters", a 1990 computer game
  • Batch file, ".BAT", MS-DOS, OS/2, and Windows shell programs
  • BAT (G.I.

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BAT may refer to:
  • Baby AT, a variant of the AT form factor
  • Bangor Area Transit
  • B.A.T., "Bureau of Astral Troubleshooters", a 1990 computer game
  • Batch file, ".BAT", MS-DOS, OS/2, and Windows shell programs
  • BAT (G.I.

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1 millimetre =
SI units
010−3 m 0 cm
US customary / Imperial units
010−3 ft 010−3 in
The millimetre (American spelling: millimeter, symbol mm
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Skin layers: epidermis, dermis, and subcutis, showing a hair follicle, sweat gland & sebaceous gland.]] In zootomy and dermatology, skin is the largest organ of the integumentary system made up of multiple layers of epithelial tissues that guard underlying muscles and organs.
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Feathers are one of the epidermal growths that form the distinctive outer covering, or plumage, on birds. They are the outstanding characteristic that distinguishes the Class Aves from all other living groups. Other Theropoda also had feathers (see Feathered dinosaurs).
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The sebaceous glands are glands found in the skin of mammals.

Locations and morphology

A branched type of acinar gland, these glands exist in humans throughout the skin except in the palms of the hands and soles of the feet.
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