Order Mallophaga - Biting Lice

• Bird Louse
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Small, wingless insects living as external parasites of birds or, less frequently, of mammals. Head fairly broad, with very small eyes and short antennae which are often concealed. Mouthparts of a modified biting type. Body usually flattened, with the prothorax distinct from the other two thoracic segments, which may be partly fused together. Cerci absent. The legs have one or two tarsal segments, the last of these bearng one or two claws with which the insect clings tightly to the feathers or fur of its host. There are three nymphal stages, with no obvious metamorphosis. Nearly 3,000 species are known and about 500 of these have been recorded in Britain.

Biting Lice feed mainly on particles of skin, feathers and fur. Some species take blood, sometimes puncturing the skin with their own jaws, but more often feeding at small wounds made when the host birds or animals scratch themselves. Most lice are confined to one host or a group of closely related host species. Some are of great economic importance when they infest domestic poultry or other livestock, but none are directly associate with humans.

Description. Up to 2 mm long. More or less whitish in colour, with darker brown markings on the head, thorax and abdomen.

Biology. Parasite of gulls (Larus spp.). The female louse lays 50-100 eggs, which she cements to the feathers of the host. Development from egg to adult stage takes about 3-4 weeks in the constant temperature environment of the host's body. Lice transfer themselves from the adult birds to the fledglings in the nest.

Distribution. In association with birds of the gull family (Laridae).

Photo: V.J. Stanek ©