Interesting facts about head lice

Head lice are a common insect infestation of the human head hair. They lay eggs close to the scalp and move freely around the head without losing their grip, due to their long front legs that are strong and powerful, perfect for gripping to human hair.

Head lice live for up to six weeks and can multiple rapidly, moving from human host to human host colonizing as they go. It only takes one female head louse to start an infestation as they can lay up to two hundred and ten eggs in their lifetime.

In their infancy the head louse, known during this period as a nymph goes through metamorphoses three times, and every time the nymph will shed its exoskeleton to promote its own growth.

The most likely source of an infestation is from children between the ages of four and eleven year of age, they will normally catch an infestation from school or after school clubs and pass the infestation on to their family or other friends.

Due to over a million years of evolving to live on human hair, the head louse is every bit adaptable to what humans use as treatment or how humans run their everyday lives.

Interesting information and facts about head lice

Head lice have been evolving for over a million years.

Head lice only live in human head hair and cannot survive anywhere else, if they happen to fall out of the human hair they die within 48 hours.

Head lice are not dangerous and do not carry disease, they just cause itching and rashes.

Head lice do not have wings

Head lice can only move from host to host through human-to-human contact, and in some cases from clothing and other personal items where hair that has been shed may be.

A nit is the name given to the dead or empty eggs, not for the head lice or eggs that have not hatched.

There is no discrimination between clean hair and dirty hair, head lice just love hair no matter what the cleanliness is.

Mummified remains of ancient Egyptians have even shown infestation of head lice.

Around five percent of the population in the United States of America suffers with head lice infestations every year, that’s about 12 million people.

Head lice are robust and grow resistant to treatments if they have been in proximity to non-lethal levels.

The UK government has issued a policy saying that any child with nits cannot go to school until the nits have gone, remembering that nits are empty eggs; this does not mean the child has an infestation.

Head lice not only nest in the human hair, they feed off human blood by biting into the skin on the scalp.

Although lice cannot survive without human hair for longer than 48 hours, they can last up to 24 hours under water.

Overall the head louse is a fascinating little insect that we do not know enough about, a lot of the information above will surprise many people.