English

a sucking louse, the human head louse, female

Noun

sucking louse ‎(plural sucking lice)

1. Any louse of the suborder Anoplura.
   • 1970, Roy Albert Crowson, Classification and Biology, 2009, page 119,

     The tailed Old World monkeys (Cercopithecidae) support sucking lice of a distinct genus, Pedicinus which has certain similarities to Pediculus and has been placed by most authorities (though not by Ferris) in the Pediculidae.

   • 2006, Norman Gratz, Vector- and Rodent-Borne Diseases in Europe and North America, page 83,

     Of the 200 or so species of sucking lice, only three infest man: the body louse, Pediculus humanus, the head louse, P. capitis and the pubic louse, Pthirus pubis (also known as the crab louse).

   • 2009, May Berenbaum, The Earwig's Tail: A Modern Bestiary of Multi-legged Legends, page 27,

     In fact, if, as claimed, the "love lice" don't consume blood, then they're not pubic lice, or any other kind of sucking lice, either, since all sucking lice require blood (not dead skin cells) to live.

Synonyms

• (any species of Anoplura): anopluran

Hyponyms

• (louse in Anoplura): body louse (Pediculus humanus humanus), head louse, (Pediculus humanus capitis), crab louse (Pthirus pubis the cause of crabs) - human parasites

Derived terms

• dog sucking louse (Linognathus setosus)
• horse sucking louse (Haematopinus asini)