Head louse
Videos
The head louse is an obligate ectoparasite of humans. Head lice are wingless insects that spend their entire lives on the human scalp and feed exclusively on human blood. Humans are the only known hos
Male human head louse
Head louse and nits size comparison
Male head louse, adult
Female head louse, adult
Louse
Videos
Louse is the common name for any member of the infraorder Phthiraptera, which contains nearly 5,000 species of wingless parasitic insects. Phthiraptera was previously recognized as an order, until a 2
Head louse
…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. Lice differ from other hematophagic ectoparasites such as fleas in spending their entire lifecycle…
Fahrenholzia pinnata
Bovicola limbata, an ischnoceran louse from goats. The species is sexually dimorphic, with the male smaller than the female.
Drawing of a louse clinging to a human hair. Robert Hooke, Micrographia, 1667
Detail showing delousing from Jan Siberechts' painting Cour de ferme ("Farmyard"), 1662