|
The
Diversity of The World of Life
True
Insects (Insecta)
Lice
(Phthiraptera)
Representatives
Sucking
Lice
Chewing
Lice
Biology
APPROXIMATE NUMBER OF KNOWN SPECIES WORLDWIDE
Over
3,000
DESCRIPTION
Sucking
lice are usually less than 1/4" long and flat from top-to-bottom.
The antennae are very short.
The mouthparts are piercing-sucking.
The head is almost
always smaller than thorax. Each
leg bears a large claw. There are no
wings.
Chewing
lice are
also usually less
than 1/4" long and flat
from top-to-bottom. The antennae are
very
short. The mouthparts
chewing. The head is as wide as or
wider than thorax. The legs are short and bear no large claws.
There are no wings.
METAMORPHOSIS
The nymphs look like small adults.
HABITAT
Typically, each
species of sucking louse lives all its life stages -- egg, nymph, and
adult -- on a particular part of the body of one or a
few, very similar species of mammal "hosts":
For example, the "human head louse" is found on the head
and other hairy parts of the human body.
Sucking lice spread from one host to another when the hosts (or
their clothing, combs, or other personal objects) come in contact with or
even just near each other.
Each species of chewing louse spends all its life stages --
egg, nymph, and adult -- on
a
particular part of the body of one or a few, very similar species of
bird or mammal "hosts": For
example, the "chicken head louse" lives right where its name
says it does. Chewing lice usually spread from one host to
another only when the hosts come in contact with each other.
FOODS
Sucking
lice suck the
blood of their mammal hosts.
Chewing
lice chew on the feathers
or hair or sometimes the skin or oozing blood of their bird or mammal
hosts.
DAMAGES/BENEFITS
The
bloodsucking of sucking lice causes irritation and may spread disease, such
as often fatal "epidemic typhus". Cleanliness
and un-crowded conditions help prevent louse attacks on people (War
refugees have been victims of louse-borne typhus throughout history).
Chewing lice
irritate their hosts, which often become sickly.
Poultry and other
domestic birds as well as mammals (rarely people) are often the victims.
True
Insects (Insecta)
|
