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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Barklice, Booklice, and Parasitic Lice (Psocodea) » Phthiraptera (Parasitic Lice) » Mallophaga (Chewing Lice)

Mallophaga (Chewing Lice)

bird louse Dog biting lice - Trichodectes canis Cat Biting Louse - Felicola subrostratus Cattle Louse Ricinus Craspedorrhynchus Endoparasitic Louse - Craspedorrhynchus Craspedorrhynchus Endoparasitic Louse - Craspedorrhynchus Chicken Fluff Louse - Goniocotes sp
Classification
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Psocodea (Barklice, Booklice, and Parasitic Lice)
No Taxon (Phthiraptera (Parasitic Lice))
No Taxon Mallophaga (Chewing Lice)
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
=Lipoptera Shipley 1904
Size
0.5-6 mm, rarely up to 10 mm(1)
Habitat
on hosts only; die fast outside host body
Food
Parasites of birds and mammals. Most specialize on only one or a few species of hosts.
Life Cycle
Eggs are attached to the hair or feathers of the host by a drop of waterproof glue. Larvae hatch from the eggs and join the adults in feeding. They molt as they grow but change little in aspect: paurometablolous
Remarks
Some are important pests of domestic animals, especially poultry(1)
Attach themselves to the bodies of hippoboscid flies that parasitize birds; this carries this lice from host to host.(2)
Internet References
Photos of common nearctic spp.
Works Cited
1.American Insects: A Handbook of the Insects of America North of Mexico
Ross H. Arnett. 2000. CRC Press.
2.Insect Behavior
Robert W. Matthews and Janice R. Matthews. 1988. Robert E. Krieger Publishing Co.
Contributed by Charley Eiseman on 12 October, 2009 - 12:06pm
Additional contributions by David Ferguson, v belov, Marci Hess
Last updated 8 October, 2023 - 8:55am

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