Louse

Louse is the common term broadly used for certain INSECT PESTS of mammals, birds, plants (APHIDS), books (book lice), etc, and for CRUSTACEANS (sea lice), living commensally with aquatic mammals and fish. Most commonly, the term refers to biting and blood-sucking INSECTS adapted as wingless, dorsoventrally flattened external parasites of birds and mammals. Lice have short legs with large claws. Eyes are reduced or absent. Under the most favourable conditions, lice cannot survive off the host for more than a few days. Each species is confined to one host or a few closely related ones, and at least one species is known for almost every terrestrial, warm-blooded animal.

Sucking Lice

Sucking Lice (order Mallophaga), of which over 200 species have been described, are blood-feeding parasites of mammals, including humans. They have piercing and sucking mouth parts and subsist entirely on nutrients derived from the host's blood.

Biting Lice

Biting Lice (order Anoplura), estimated to comprise even more species, are parasites mainly of birds but also of mammals. They have chewing mouth parts, and feed on epidermal debris and exudates.

Interaction with Humans

Lice harbour and transmit disease organisms to and among animals (eg, those causing relapsing fever and typhus in humans), and spread rapidly to cause epidemics in crowded, unsanitary conditions.

Author W.O. HAUFE

Links to Other Sites
Canadian Biodiversity Website
A great information source for all budding biologists. Learn about biodiversity theory, natural history, and conservation issues. From McGill’s Redpath Museum.

E-Fauna BC
An extensively illustrated guide to wildlife species found in British Columbia. Covers bats, birds, beetles, bugs and much more. Also features an insect glossary and notes about invasive species. A biogeographic initiative of the Lab for Advanced Spatial Analysis, Department of Geography, UBC.

The Canadian National Collection of Insects, Arachnids and Nematodes
This website provides information about the scope and contents of the Canadian National Collection of Insects, Arachnids and Nematodes. Check the “Index” link for illustrated descriptions of various taxonomic groups.

Dr. Ben Koop: Bringing the power of genomics to aquaculture
A brief summary of Dr. Ben Koop's genomics research into the impact of sea lice on salmon raised in aquaculture systems and in the wild. From the University of Victoria.

University of Alberta's E.H. Strickland Entomological Museum
Check out images and information about insect specimens found in the University of Alberta's E.H. Strickland Entomological Museum, one of the most significant insect collections in Canada.

Aquatic Invertebrates of Alberta Online Textbook
An online guide to all major groups of Alberta's aquatic invertebrates. Offers illustrated details of the natural history of each group as well as tips on collecting and preserving specimens. A University of Alberta website.