The study analyzes sequence variation of two mitochondrial genes (COI, cytb) in Pediculus humanus from three countries (Egypt, Pakistan, South Africa) that have received little prior attention, and integrates these results with prior data. Analysis indicates a maximum K2P distance of 10.3% among 960 COI sequences and 13.8% among 479 cytb sequences. Three analytical methods (BIN, PTP, ABGD) reve...

Resistance of head lice to insecticides with a neurotoxic mode of action, such as permethrin and malathion, is increasing in incidence and geographic extent. As a consequence, physically acting pediculicidal products have emerged. Dimeticones are synthetic silicone oils of low surface tension and can therefore coat most surfaces, thus also killing head lice (Pediculus humanus capitis) by physic...

The mitochondrial (mt) genome of bilateral animals typically consists of a single chromosome, ~16 kb long, and contains 37 genes. Variation in mt gene sequence within an individual, i.e. heteroplasmy, is common in bilateral animals but usually occurs at very low levels. In the lineage that led to the human body louse, the typical mt chromosome has fragmented into 18 minichromosomes: each minich...

The human head louse (Pediculus humanus capitis) and body louse (P. humanus corporis or P. h. humanus) are strict, obligate human ectoparasites that differ mainly in their habitat on the host : the head louse lives and feeds exclusively on the scalp, whereas the body louse feeds on the body but lives in clothing. This ecological differentiation probably arose when humans adopted frequent use of...

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This paper presents and discusses archaeological samples of Pediculus humanus capitis nits/eggs in Arica, northern Chile, dating between 2000 B.C. and A.D. 500. Eight samples of nits/eggs taken directly from seven mummified bodies of both the valley and the coast of Arica, were collected and studied. Samples were analysed with scanning electron microscopy (SEM), uncoated, using low and variable...

Head lice, Pediculis capitis De Geer, populations were investigated for permethrin and malathion resistance after initial establishment of a discriminating dose of topical application bioassay with body lice, Pediculus humanus L. For both insecticides, approximately 2 times the lethal dose (LD)95 at 4 h was selected, 2 ng of permethrin and 100 ng of malathion per head louse, respectively. Head ...