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image - Coggle Diagram
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2. Sub-order Anoplura
Superficially resemble chewing lice with their small, wingless, flattened bodies, but anopluran heads are narrower than the prothorax
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First legs are often smaller than other legs, and the third legs and their claws are usually largest
Mode of feeding
Solenophage – arthropods that introduce their mouthparts directly
into a blood vessel to withdraw blood
Telmophage – arthropods with mouthparts that cut through the skin
and vessels to produce and feed from a small pool of blood
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Life Cycle – head louse
The louse feeds on blood several times daily and resides close to the scalp to maintain its body temperature.
They are hard to see and are often confused for dandruff or hair spray droplets.
Nits are laid by the adult female and are cemented at the base of the hair shaft nearest the scalp.
The nymph looks like an adult head louse, but is about the size of a pinhead.
Disease
Pediculosis (body/ head lice infestation) is not life threatening (unless it carry a disease organism)
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Years of infestation lead to a darkened, thickened skin (Vagabond’s disease)
If left untreated, the hair becomes matted together, a fungus grows,
and the mass develops a fetid (foul/ rotten) odor (plica polonica) – large
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Phthirus pubis
- Crab louse (or crabs)
- Grasping tarsi on the two larger pairs of their legs are reminiscent of crab’s pincers.
Life Cycle
Have three stages: egg, nymph and adult.
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If adults are forced off the host, they will die within 24-48 hours without a blood feeding.
Pubic lice are transmitted from person to person most-commonly via sexual contact,
although fomites (bedding, clothing) may play a minor role in their transmission.
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Prevention of Head Lice
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Children should not share combs, hats and personal belongings.
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