Human Lice (6553)

Since no fossils of lice have ever been found we can only speculate when they originated. We do know the ancient Egyptians and Greeks wrote of them and they were found on prehistoric American Indian mummies.
There are three kinds of lice which feed on man.

1. The head louse (Pediculus humanus capitus)
2. The body louse (Pediculus humanus humanus)
3. The crab or pubic louse (Pthirus pubis)

Head and body lice are very much alike, however, body lice are slightly larger. These lice have abdomens longer than they are broad and their six legs are equal in size. In contrast, the abdomen of the crab louse is about as wide or even slightly wider than its length, and the second and third pairs of legs are thicker than the first pair. Crab lice are much smaller than head and body lice.
Depending on temperature, lice eggs (nits) usually hatch into nymphs within ten days. There are three nymphal stages, the third followed by the adult stage. All stages must have blood meals if they are to survive and continue their development. Adult lice live about 30 days.

For more information, please visit this Penn State Fact Sheet.

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Penn State Entomolgy Department

For more information on this subject, Please visit the College of Agricultural Sciences Publications Web site.

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