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Ricinidae
Sign in to saveThe Ricinidae are a family of a larger group Amblycera of the chewing lice. All species are relatively large bodied (relative to host size) avian ectoparasites. They typically exhibit low prevalence (proportion of infested hosts) and low intensity (number of parasites per infested hosts). They feed on host blood which is atypical in chewing lice. Two or three genera are recognized. They exhibit strongly female-biased sex-ratios, especially in low-intensity infestations.
Museum specimens
- Specimen records
- 8
- With media
- 4
- Family
- Ricinidae
- Collections
- BYU, QVMAG, AM
- Recorded in
- United States, Brazil, Australia
Wikidata facts
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- taxon rank
- family
- taxon name
- Ricinidae
- Commons category
- Ricinidae
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Encyclopedic overview
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The Ricinidae are a family of a larger group Amblycera of the chewing lice. All species are relatively large bodied (relative to host size) avian ectoparasites. They typically exhibit low prevalence (proportion of infested hosts) and low intensity (number of parasites per infested hosts). They feed on host blood which is atypical in chewing lice. Two or three genera are recognized. They exhibit strongly female-biased sex-ratios, especially in low-intensity infestations.
The genus Ricinus (65 species) parasitize small or medium-sized Passeriformes. (Note that Ricinus is also a valid genus name in plant taxonomy.)
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Ricinidae” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.