Louse
58288
225903904
2008-07-15T23:07:32Z
72.201.0.221
{{otheruses}}
{{redirect|Lice|the district of Diyarbakır Province in Turkey|Lice, Turkey}}
{{Taxobox
| name = Phthiraptera
| image = Fahrenholzia pinnata.JPG
| image_width = 200px
| image_caption = Light micrograph of ''[[Fahrenholzia pinnata]]''
| regnum = [[Animal]]ia
| phylum = [[Arthropod]]a
| classis = [[Insect]]a
| subclassis = [[Pterygota]]
| infraclassis = [[Neoptera]]
| ordo = '''Phthiraptera'''
| ordo_authority = [[Ernst Haeckel|Haeckel]], 1896
| subdivision_ranks = Suborders
| subdivision =
[[Anoplura]]<br />
[[Haematomyzus|Rhyncophthirina]]<br />
[[Ischnocera]]<br />
[[Amblycera]]
}}
'''Lice''' (singular: '''louse'''), ([[order (biology)|order]] '''Phthiraptera'''), also known as '''fly babies''', are an order of over 3,000 [[species]] of wingless [[insect]]s; three of which are classified as human disease agents. They are obligate [[parasite|ectoparasites]] of every [[birds|avian]] and most [[mammals|mammalian]] orders. They are not found on [[Monotreme]]s (the [[platypus]] and the [[echidnas]] or spiny anteaters) and a few [[eutheria]]n orders, namely the [[bat]]s (Chiroptera), [[Cetacea|whales, dolphins and porpoises]] (Cetacea) and [[pangolin]]s (Pholidota).
==Description==
As lice spend their entire lives on the host, they have developed adaptations which enable them to maintain close contact with the host. These adaptations are reflected in their size (0.5–8 [[Millimetre|mm]]), stout legs, and claws which are adapted to cling tightly to hair, fur and feathers, and that they are wingless and dorsoventrally flattened.
Lice feed on [[skin]] (epidermal) debris, [[feather]] parts, [[Sebaceous gland|sebaceous secretions]] and [[blood]]. A louse's color varies from pale beige to dark grey; however, if feeding on blood, it may become considerably darker.
A louse's egg is commonly called a nit. Lice attach their eggs to their host's hair with specialized saliva which results in a bond that is very difficult to separate without specialized products. Living lice eggs tend to be pale white. Dead lice eggs are more yellow. Lice are very annoying and are difficult to remove, but not impossible.
==Classification==
The order has traditionally been divided into two suborders; the [[sucking lice]] (Anoplura) and [[chewing lice]] (Mallophaga), however, recent classifications suggest that the Mallophaga are [[paraphyletic]] and four suborders are now recognised:
* [[Anoplura]]: [[sucking]] lice, including head and pubic lice (see also [[Pediculosis]] or [[Head lice]])
* [[Haematomyzus|Rhyncophthirina]]: parasites of elephants and [[warthog]]s
* [[Ischnocera]]: avian lice
* [[Amblycera]]: [[chewing]] lice, a primitive order of lice
* [[Amblycera]]: [[Jumping]] Lice have very strong hind legs and can jump a distance of three feet
It has been suggested that the order is contained by the Troctomorpha suborder of [[Psocoptera]].
==Lice and humans==
Humans are unique in that they host three different kinds of lice: [[Head louse|head lice]], [[body louse|body lice]] (which live mainly in clothing), and [[Crab louse|pubic lice]]. The DNA differences between head lice and body lice provide corroborating evidence that humans started wearing clothes at approximately 70,000 BCE.<ref>{{cite journal |quotes=no |url=http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20030823/fob7.asp |publisher=[[Science News]] |title=The naked truth? Lice hint at a recent origin of clothing |author=John Travis |date=[[2003-08-23]] |volume=164 |issue=8 |pages=118 |format={{dead link|date=June 2008}} – <sup>[http://scholar.google.co.uk/scholar?hl=en&lr=&q=intitle%3AThe+naked+truth%3F+Lice+hint+at+a+recent+origin+of+clothing&as_publication=&as_ylo=&as_yhi=&btnG=Search Scholar search]</sup>}}</ref>
Recent [[DNA]] evidence suggests that pubic lice spread to the ancestors of humans approximately 3.3 million years ago from the ancestors of gorillas by sharing the same bed or other communal areas with them, and are more closely related to lice endemic to gorillas than to other lice species infesting humans.<ref>{{cite journal |quotes=no |title=Pair of lice lost or parasites regained: the evolutionary history of
anthropoid primate lice |author=David L Reed, Jessica E Light, Julie M Allen and Jeremy J Kirchman |journal=BMC Biology |volume=5 |pages=7 |doi=10.1186/1741-7007-5-7 | year = 2007 |unused_data=|http://www.biomedcentral.com/1741-7007/5/7}}</ref>
==Gallery==
{{commonscat|Phthiraptera}}
<gallery>
Image:Lice image01.jpg|The chewing louse ''Damalinia limbata'' is found on [[Angora goat]]s. The male louse (right) is typically smaller than the female (left), whose posterior margin of the abdomen is more rounded than those of male lice.
Image:Louse_diagram,_Micrographia,_Robert_Hooke,_1667.jpg|Diagram of a louse, by [[Robert Hooke]], 1667.
Image:Trichodectes canis2.jpg|Trichodectes canis, the biting dog louse
</gallery>
==See Also==
*[[Pest]]
*[[Use of DNA in forensic entomology]]
==External links==
{{Wiktionarypar|louse}}
*[http://npic.orst.edu/pest2.htm#lice Lice Pest Control Information - National Pesticide Information Center]
*[http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,21346795-2703,00.html Bed-hopping led humans to 3 million-year itch]
*[http://www.phthiraptera.org www.phthiraptera.org] has extensive scientific information.
*[http://creatures.ifas.ufl.edu/urban/human_lice.htm Body and Head lice] University of Florida Featured Creatures
*[http://creatures.ifas.ufl.edu/urban/crab_louse.htm Crab Louse] University of Florida Featured Creatures
*[http://children.webmd.com/tc/lice-topic-overview WebMD Lice Info]
==References==
{{reflist}}
<br>
{{Human lice}}
[[Category:Insects]]
[[Category:Parasites]]
[[Category:Lice| ]]
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