Background In the treatment of human head lice infestation, healthcare providers are increasingly concerned about lice becoming resistant to existing pesticide treatments. Traditional pesticides, used ...

There are two forms of Pediculus that infest humans: head lice that live and lay their eggs on the hair of the head, and body lice that live and lay their eggs in clothes. Body lice probably evolved ...

Although generally despised, the blood-sucking human body louse, Pediculus humanus, has gained newfound popularity among scientists for a surprising genetic feature. Instead of carrying mitochondrial ...

This article was published in Scientific American’s former blog network and reflects the views of the author, not necessarily those of Scientific American Ponder the louse. Consider its plural, lice.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — A new study offers compelling genetic evidence that head and body lice are the same species. The finding is of special interest because body lice can transmit deadly bacterial ...

Humans only started wearing clothes as little as 40,000 years ago, according to a new genetic study which has calculated when the human body louse evolved - a creature which needs clothes to lay its ...

Lice. The very word makes your head itch and your skin crawl. Now that we're all back to school, we should know that, second to colds, lice are the most common cause of infection among school-age ...

In his dissertation, Scherer reported four specific hydrocarbons present in significant amounts in every head louse sample he studied. [2] These four hydrocarbons represent approximately 50% of the ...