What Is the Description of Lice?

Lice are tiny, wingless insects from the orders Anoplura and Mallophaga that are parasitic only to warm-blooded animals. There are three kinds of lice that live specifically on humans. These include the head louse, body or clothes louse, and the "crab" or pubic louse.

Head Lice

• Pediculus humanus capitis, or the head louse, is grayish-white or tan and approximately the size of a sesame seed. Most common among young children, head lice feed off the scalp and lay tiny yellow nits at the roots of hair. Head lice are highly contagious and, although they cannot jump, they easily move from one person to another.

Body Lice

• Pediculus humanus corporis, or the body louse, appears almost identical to head lice. Body lice, however, live primarily in the clothing rather than on the head and travel frequently to the skin to feed. Their bites are located commonly at places where clothing seams are close to the body. Passed from body-to-body contact, infestations are most common in situations of crowding and/or poor hygiene.

Pubic Lice

• Pthirus pubis, or the pubic louse, are small, six-legged lice found often in pubic hair and armpit hair, as well as eyelashes and eyebrows. Typically transmitted through sexual contact or contaminated objects, like sheets and toilet seats, pubic lice breed and feed in the pubic area, causing extreme itching.