Pediculosis
Guides
Pediculidae
Ape Lice
Pediculidae is a family of sucking lice (suborder Anoplura) that includes obligate ectoparasites of primates. The family contains Pediculus humanus, the human head and body louse, which exists as two morphologically similar but ecologically distinct forms: P. h. capitis (head louse) and P. h. humanus (body louse). Pediculidae also includes P. schaeffi, which infests chimpanzees and bonobos. These lice are wingless, dorsoventrally flattened insects with specialized mouthparts for piercing skin and feeding on blood. They complete their entire life cycle on the host and are of significant medical importance as vectors of epidemic typhus, trench fever, and relapsing fever.