Anoplura; sucking lice

Description: Wingless, small; adults usually 1/16 to 1/8 inch long (a few, e.g., hog louse, nearly ¼ inch); range from pale yellowish to blue-black or brown; head shapes vary round to pointed but narrower than thorax.

Domestic animals affected: cattle, swine, horses, sheep, goats, dogs, rabbits; not cats or fowl.

Damage caused: loss of blood, sometimes resulting in anemia; itching, which leads to scratched and bruised skin from rubbing; reduced feeding efficiency and rate of gain; seldom linked to disease transmission in domestic animals, but hog lice can transmit eperythrozoonosis.

Development: gradual metamorphosis: egg, three nymphal instars resemble adults but are smaller, adult.

Generational time: typically about 3 to 4 weeks, more slowly in hot or extremely cold weather.

Oviposition site: eggs are glued to individual strands of the host’s hair or wool, typically quite close to the skin.

Nymphal habitat, feeding: nymphs share the adult habitat and feeding habits.

Adult habitat, feeding: live entire life sheltered by the host’s hair coat or wool, piercing skin with retractable stylets to feed on blood.

Method of dispersal or infestation: host-to-host contact, exposure to bedding used by infested hosts; occasionally phoretic on flies.

Seasonality: most sucking lice are more abundant during winter; there are exceptions, e.g., the sheep foot louse and cattle tail louse.

Notes or comments: Most sucking lice are host specific to a single species of host. As with chewing lice, sucking lice of Equidae and Canidae may parasitize any species of a host family.

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