Louse is the common name for any member of the clade Phthiraptera, which contains nearly 5,000 species of wingless parasitic insects. Phthiraptera has variously been recognized as an order, infraorder, or a parvorder, as a result of developments in phylogenetic research.
The Ischnocera is a large superfamily of lice. They are mostly parasitic on birds, but including a large family parasitic on mammals. The genus Trichophilopterus is also found on mammals (lemurs), but probably belongs to the "avian Ischnocera" and represents a host switch from birds to mammals. It is a chewing louse, which feeds on the feathers and skin debris of birds. Many of the avian Ischnocera have evolved an elongated body shape. This allows them to conceal themselves between the feather shafts and avoid being dislodged during preening or flight.
The Amblycera are a large clade of chewing lice, parasitic on both birds and mammals. The Amblycera are considered the most primitive clade of lice.
Strigiphilus garylarsoni is a species of chewing louse found only on owls. The species has no common name.
Coextinction and cothreatened refer to the phenomenon of the loss or decline of a host species resulting in the loss or endangerment of another species that depends on it, potentially leading to cascading effects across trophic levels. The term was originated by the authors Stork and Lyal (1993) and was originally used to explain the extinction of parasitic insects following the loss of their specific hosts. The term is now used to describe the loss of any interacting species, including competition with their counterpart, and specialist herbivores with their food source. Coextinction is especially common when a keystone species goes extinct.
Psocoptera are a paraphyletic group of insects that are commonly known as booklice, barklice or barkflies. The name Psocoptera has been replaced with Psocodea in recent literature, with the inclusion of the former order Phthiraptera into Psocodea.
A bird louse is any chewing louse of order Phthiraptera which parasitizes warm-blooded animals, especially birds. Bird lice may feed on feathers, skin, or blood. They have no wings, and their biting mouth parts distinguish them from true lice, which suck blood.
Trogiomorpha is one of the three major suborders of barklice, booklice, and parasitic lice in the order Psocodea, alongside Troctomorpha and Psocomorpha. There are about 8 families and more than 430 described species in Trogiomorpha. Trogiomorpha is widely agreed to be the earliest diverging of the three suborders, and retains the most primitive characteristics.
Troctomorpha is one of the three major suborders of Psocodea (barklice, booklice, and parasitic lice), alongside Psocomorpha and Trogiomorpha. There are more than 30 families and 5,800 described species in Troctomorpha. The order includes parasitic lice, which are most closely related to the booklice family Liposcelididae.
Rallicola extinctus is an extinct species of phtilopterid louse. The parasite was only known to live on the now extinct huia and is thought to have become extinct with its host. Like its host, it was endemic to New Zealand's North Island.
Psocodea is a taxonomic group of insects comprising the bark lice, book lice and parasitic lice. It was formerly considered a superorder, but is now generally considered by entomologists as an order. Despite the greatly differing appearance of parasitic lice (Phthiraptera), they are believed to have evolved from within the former order Psocoptera, which contained the bark lice and book lice, now found to be paraphyletic. They are often regarded as the most primitive of the hemipteroids. Psocodea contains around 11,000 species, divided among four suborders and more than 70 families. They range in size from 1–10 millimetres (0.04–0.4 in) in length.
Paraneoptera or Acercaria is a superorder of insects which includes lice, thrips, and hemipterans, the true bugs. It also includes the extinct order Permopsocida, known from fossils dating from the Early Permian to the mid-Cretaceous.
Columbicola extinctus, also known as the passenger pigeon chewing louse, is an extant species of phtilopterid louse. It was once believed to have become extinct with its only known host, the passenger pigeon, prior to its rediscovery living on band-tailed pigeons.
The Ricinidae are a family of a larger group Amblycera of the chewing lice. All species are relatively large bodied avian ectoparasites. They typically exhibit low prevalence and low intensity. They feed on host blood which is atypical in chewing lice. Two or three genera are recognized.
Harrisoniella hopkinsi is a species of phtilopterid louse that lives on and eats the feathers of albatrosses. The species was first described by W. Eichler in 1952.
Strigiphilus is a genus of chewing louse in the suborder Ischnocera. It was circumscribed in 1910 by Eric Mjöberg.
Rallicola is a genus of chewing louse. It is an ectoparasite of rails and other birds. It was named by Thomas Harvey Johnston and Launcelot Harrison in 1911. There are two subgenera aside from the nominotypical subgenus: Aptericola, whose species are found on kiwi birds, and Huiacola, a monospecific subgenus consisting of Rallicola extinctus, once found on the huia.
Harrison's rule is an observation in evolutionary biology by Launcelot Harrison which states that in comparisons across closely related species, host and parasite body sizes tend to covary positively.
Columbicola is a genus of lice belonging to the family Philopteridae.
Acidoproctus is a genus of lice, in the family Philopteridae. They are known to be distributed across Asia and Australasia. There are two species in New Zealand.
