Phthiraptera
Sign in to saveLouse (: lice) 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 2021 genetic study determined that they are a highly modified lineage of the order Psocodea, whose members are commonly known as booklice, barklice or barkflies.
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Phthiraptera is an infraorder containing nearly 5,000 species of wingless parasitic insects commonly known as lice. Until 2021, scientists classified them as their own separate order, but genetic research revealed they are actually a highly modified lineage descended from Psocodea, the group that includes booklice and barklice.
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Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- taxon
- Parent taxon
- Troctomorpha
- Image
- Male human head louse.jpg
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Article
14 sectionsContents
- Classification
- Internal classification
- Evolutionary history
- Description
- Ecology
- Reproduction
- In human culture
- In social history
- In literature and folklore
- In science
- Woodlouse
- See also
- References
- External links
Louse (: lice) 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 2021 genetic study determined that they are a highly modified lineage of the order Psocodea, whose members are commonly known as booklice, barklice or barkflies.
Lice are obligate parasites, living externally on warm-blooded hosts, which include most species of bird and mammal, notably excluding monotremes, pangolins, bats, sirenians, tapirs, rhinoceroses, and members of the clade and suborder Whippomorpha (Cetaceans and Hippopotamids). Chewing lice live among the hairs or feathers of their host and feed on skin and debris, whereas sucking lice pierce the host's skin and feed on blood and other secretions. They usually spend their whole life on a single host, cementing their eggs, called nits, to hairs or feathers. The eggs hatch into nymphs, which moult three times before becoming fully grown, a process that takes about four weeks.