louse (redirected from Biting lice)

louse (lous) pl. lice   any of various parasitic insects; species parasitic on humans are Pediculus humanus capitis (head l.), P. humanus corporis (body, or clothes, l.), and Phthirus pubis (crab, or pubic, l.). Lice are major vectors of typhus, relapsing fever, and trench fever.

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louse (lous)

n. pl. lice (ls)

Any of numerous small, flat-bodied, wingless biting or sucking insects of the orders Mallophaga or Anoplura, many of which are external parasites on humans.

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louse.

See lice.

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louse

pl. lice; a general name for various species-specific parasitic insects, the true lice, which infest mammals and belong to the order Phthiraptera. This is divided into two suborders, Mallophaga, the biting lice, and Anoplura, the sucking lice. They are grayish, wingless, dorsoventrally flattened, and vary in length from about 1.5 to 4 mm. They stimulate rubbing, scratching and restlessness, causing damage to fleece and loss of production. Heavy infestations with sucking lice may cause serious anemia. Louse infestation is also called pediculosis.

The term louse is also used loosely with respect to other external parasites, e.g. whale 'lice' are barnacles and small copepods.

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louse

 A flat wingless parasitic insect

Of Lice & Men

Biting lice, Order Mallophaga, which rarely affect humans

Sucking lice, Order Anoplua, family Pediculidae, which are global in distribution, and serve as either

• Disease vectors, eg Borrelia recurrentis–Bhermisi turcatae, B parkeri or

• Themselves cause disease—Pediculus humanis capitis, head lice, Pediculus humanis corporis, body lice, Phthirus pubis, crabs, pubic lice