Suborder Anoplura (Order Phthiraptera)

COMMON NAME: SUCKING LICE

The sucking lice are wingless, flat-bodied insects that look much like the chewing lice. The head, however, is narrower than the thorax, and the mouthparts are fitted for piercing the skin and sucking blood. They develop with gradual metamorphosis, the life stages being the egg, nymph, and adult. All adults are wingless. Sucking lice are parasitic on mammals but never attack birds.

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Examples

		Haematopinus suis (Linnaeus) - hog biting louse Habitat: They can be found all over the hog's body, but prefer to congregate in fold of the skin. Can be harmful to young pigs.
**most of the images included in these pages are from the 'Insects in Kansas' Book. They are freely available for student and noncommercial use (according to their copyright agreement with each photographer) at the PDIS image site, http://www.pdis.org/default.aspx

For additional information on Anoplura, please check out the following websites:

• http://tolweb.org/Anoplura
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_body_louse