Book Louse

This illustration depicts the morphologic characteristics of the ventral surface of the female and male louse, Goniodes gigas.Created: 1975

This illustration depicts the ventral features of the male and female louse, Lipeurus caponis.Created: 1975

This illustration of female and male lice, Goniodes dissimilis shows the ventral aspect of this species.Created: 1975

This illustration depicts a female (Lt) and male (Rt) rat louse, Polyplax spinulosa from a ventral view.Created: 1975

This illustration depicts the ventral features of the male louse, Hoplopleura oenomydis.Created: 1975

This illustration depicts a ventral view of a hog louse, Haematopinus suis, whose legs are all equivalent in morphologic stature.Created: 1975

This illustration depicts a female (Lt) and male (Rt) rat louse, Polyplax spinulosa from a ventral view.Created: 1975

This illustration depicts a ventral view of a dog louse, Linognathus setosus, displaying an abdomen with no segmental exoskeletal plates.Created: 1975

This illustration of the female and male lice, Menopon gallinae, shows the ventral aspect of this species.Created: 1975

This illustration depicts a number of identifiable morphologic characteristics of the rat louse, Polyplax spinulosa from a ventral view, as well as three insets that highlight three distinct morphologic features unique to this genus.Created: 1975

From a ventral perspective, and at a low magnification of 151x, this 2006 scanning electron micrograph (SEM) depicted an enlarged view of the chitinous, exoskeletal surface of a female louse, Pediculus humanus var. corporis, in the region where the organism’s forelegs and hean attached to its thoracic region. In this particular view, the exoskeleton seems to be composed of interlocking plates, which is not far from the case, in order to provide flexibility to this patent joint, the chitinous components were arranged in a plate-like manner, attached to one another with thin, by strong layers of exoskeletal chitin. Chitin is a molecule made up of bound units of acetylglucosamine, which is joined in such a way as to allow for increased points at which hydrogen bonding can occur. In this way chitin provides increased strength, and durability as an exoskeletal foundation.Created: 2006

This illustration depicts the ventral features of the male louse, Polyplax spinulosa.Created: 1975

From a ventral perspective, and at a moderate magnification of 307x, this 2006 scanning electron micrograph (SEM) depicted an enlarged view of the chitinous, exoskeletal surface of a female louse, Pediculus humanus var. corporis, in the region where the organism’s forelegs attached to its thoracic region. In this particular view, the exoskeleton seems to be composed of interlocking plates, which is not far from the case, in order to provide flexibility to this patent joint, the chitinous components were arranged in a plate-like manner, attached to one another with thin, by strong layers of exoskeletal chitin. Chitin is a molecule made up of bound units of acetylglucosamine, which is joined in such a way as to allow for increased points at which hydrogen bonding can occur. In this way chitin provides increased strength, and durability as an exoskeletal foundation.Created: 2006

This illustration depicts ventral views of four genera of lice that do not possess eyes.Created: 1975

From a ventral perspective, and at a relatively high magnification of 1228x, this 2006 scanning electron micrograph (SEM) depicted an enlarged view of the chitinous, exoskeletal surface of a female louse, Pediculus humanus var. corporis, in the region where the right antennal scape attached to its cephalic region, or head. In this particular view, the exoskeleton seems to be composed of interlocking plates, which is not far from the case, in order to provide flexibility to this patent joint, the chitinous components were arranged in a plate-like manner, attached to one another with thin, by strong layers of exoskeletal chitin. Chitin is a molecule made up of bound units of acetylglucosamine, which is joined in such a way as to allow for increased points at which hydrogen bonding can occur. In this way chitin provides increased strength, and durability as an exoskeletal foundation.Created: 2006

This illustration depicts the morphologic characteristics of the lateral paratergal plates of three species from the genus HoplopleuraCreated: 1975

This was one of five scanning electron micrographic (SEM) images (PHIL# 9243 – 9247), successively magnified at higher and higher values, which focused on the head region of a female body louse, Pediculus humanus var. corporis from a ventral perspective. At a high magnification of 1228x, this SEM revealed some of the insect’s exoskeletal morphology exhibited by the cephalic region. Highlighted in this view is the insect’s cone-shaped mouth, which is surrounded by a number of setae, or sensorial hairs, which provide the organism with informational feedback about its environment such as chemistry and temperature.Created: 2006

This illustration depicts the morphologic characteristics of the lateral paratergal plates of three species from the genus HoplopleuraCreated: 1975

This was one of five scanning electron micrographic (SEM) images (PHIL# 9243 – 9247), successively magnified at higher and higher values, which focused on the head region of a female body louse, Pediculus humanus var. corporis from a ventral perspective. At a moderate magnification of 307x, this SEM revealed some of the insect’s exoskeletal morphology exhibited by the cephalic region. Note the two partially visible, bilaterally situated antennae composed of three main segments: visible here was the most proximal scape and the pedicle, and not in the field of view, the multi-segmented flagellum. The antennae, and the insect’s body sport sensorial hairs known as "setae, both of which provided the organism with a "picture of its environment, by taking readings in thermal, chemical, and mechanical changes encountered in its immediate surroundings. Its cone-shaped mouth is located at the very top of the image.Created: 2006

This illustration depicts a male (Lt) and female (Rt) rat louse of the genus Hoplopleura from a ventral view.Created: 1975

This was one of five scanning electron micrographic (SEM) images (PHIL# 9243 – 9247), successively magnified at higher and higher values, which focused on the head region of a female body louse, Pediculus humanus var. corporis from a ventral perspective. At a relatively low magnification of 154x, this SEM revealed some of the insect’s exoskeletal morphology exhibited by the cephalic region. Note the two bilaterally situated antennae composed of three main segments: the most proximal scape, a pedicle, and the multi-segmented flagellum. The antennae, and the insect’s body sport sensorial hairs known as "setae, both of which provided the organism with a "picture of its environment, by taking readings in thermal, chemical, and mechanical changes encountered in its immediate surroundings.Created: 2006

This illustration depicts a rat louse, which is a member of the genus, Hoplopleura from a ventral view, as well as three insets that highlight three distinct morphologic features unique to this genus.Created: 1975

This was one of five scanning electron micrographic (SEM) images (PHIL# 9243 – 9247), successively magnified at higher and higher values, which focused on the head region of a female body louse, Pediculus humanus var. corporis from a ventral perspective. At a relatively low magnification, this SEM revealed some of the insect’s exoskeletal morphology exhibited by its cephalic, or head region, thoracic, and proximal abdominal regions. Of interest is the jointed configuration of its six extremities, from which it derived its classification in the phylum of Athropoda, i.e., Arthro from "joint, and poda from "leg"). Also note the sensorial hairs known as setae, which really aren’t hairs at all, but chitinous exoskeletal extensions, unlike mammalian hairs, which are made up of keratin, and make mammals unique in this regard.Created: 2006

This was one of five scanning electron micrographic (SEM) images (PHIL# 9243 – 9247), successively magnified at higher and higher values, which focused on the head region of a female body louse, Pediculus humanus var. corporis from a ventral perspective. At a relatively low magnification, this SEM revealed some of the insect’s exoskeletal morphology exhibited by its cephalic, or head region, thoracic, and proximal abdominal regions. Of interest is the jointed configuration of its six extremities, from which it derived its classification in the phylum of Athropoda, i.e., Arthro from "joint, and poda from "leg").Created: 2006