Bed bugs live exclusively on blood. The common bed bug prefers human blood but can suck on other animals. It is photophobic and spends most of his life hidden near places where potential blood donors spend the nighttime. If it lives under optimal conditions, hunger will drive the bed bug out of hiding approx. once […]
How do they look?
Bed bugs are flattened, and thus well suited to seek shelter in narrow crevices and cracks. The color is reddish brown and the body shape almost oval. The adult bed bugs are 4-5 mm long and 2-3 mm wide, which is a size you can see. It lacks the wings of a typical bug. The […]
A bit of history
Bed bugs are mentioned in Greek writings as early as 400 years BCE, Aristotle mentions them later, and in a work by Pliny from the year 77, he claims that they can be used to treat snakebites, among other things. In Germany, they were first heard of in the twelfth century and in France around […]
Where does it come from?
The era of insects began about 400 million years ago. However, the direct ancestors of bed bugs, plant lice and reduviids, have only been found as fossils in approx. 300 million years old layers. The bloodsuckers didn’t have any opportunities until the warm-blooded mammals and birds came approx. 200 million years ago. But when were […]
Bed bugs
Three things hurt in a peasant’s house: “Mean wife, smoke and bed bug” (Peder Syv, approx. 1680) Where in the system do bed bugs belong?Bed bugs are insects and therefore belong to the largest class of living animals. Currently, about 1 million different species of insects have been described and it is expected that there […]
Bugs
A bug’s mouth parts form a complex stinging and sucking device. In broad outline, it consists of a long, thin straw which, when not in use, is located in a sheath formed by the extended lower lip. Some bugs do not have wings; however, most ticks have two pairs. The rear wings are clear flying […]
Bites and irritation
On days of flying weather – calm, warm summer days – there may be large numbers of thrips in the air. They may sit on you, and crawl through the clothes and into the ears, nose and eyes. They are irritating when they crawl on the skin. In addition, they often pierce their short proboscis […]
Thrips
Thrips (Thysanoptera) are also known as thunder flies, thunder bugs, storm flies, thunder blights, storm bugs, corn flies and corn lice. Their legs usually end in two tarsal segments with a bladder-like structure and their four very wings have ciliated fringes on the edges. In Denmark, there are more than 100 different thrips species and […]
Lice in cats
There is only one species of feline lice: Felicola subrostrata, also called feline chewing louse. This louse will get up to 1.3 mm long and is characterized by its triangular head. As a biting lice, it is quite peaceful as it eats skin flakes, etc. This does not usually bother the cat. However, biting lice […]
Lice in dogs
Dogs can have two different species of lice. One is a blood-sucking kind of louse, and the other is a biting kind of louse. The sucking louse, linagnathus setosus, sucks blood like the lice found on people. It lives on dogs and foxes and never bites humans. This species of canine lice can grow to […]
Control
The treatments used against crab lice are the same as the once you use to eradicate head lice and body lice. Shampoos are most suitable because they do not sting the thin-skinned places. Apply on the body and on the scalp hair and eyebrows if these are also infected, however, do not apply on the […]
Detection
Many people only experience a little itching discover the crab lice by accident. For other, itching, especially in the crotch, is an outstanding symptom of crab lice. Itching in the groin area can have many other causes (among the animals, the flagellate Trichomonas vaginalis or pin worm Oxyuris vermicularis, may cause itching. These two kinds […]
Spreading of crab lice
Crab lice are spread by intimate contact – either through intercourse or simply by sharing a bed with an infected person. However, there are cases of crab lice which cannot be explained by intercourse or sharing a bed. The lice rarely leave their host but they cause itching which can result in them being scratched […]
Crab louse bites
The crab louse does not move much. When it has chosen its sucking place, it keeps the mouth inside the skin – also in the periods where it does not suck blood. Crab lice suck blood almost all the time. That is probably why they do not tolerate being away from their host for long […]
Occurrence
The crab louse has adapted to sparse hair. The scalp hairs are too close (about 220 hairs / cm 2). The pubic hair (about 34 hairs / cm 2) is better suited for crab louse. The crab louse primarily live in pubic hair but is also seen in the hair on the chest and in […]
Biology
An adult female lives about a week. It lays three nits a day and only mate once in her short lifetime. The nits hatch after 7-8 days. The three nymph stages lasts a total of 13-17 days. The total development time from nit to nit is therefore 20-25 days.
The crab louse
The crab louse is called Phthirus pubis or pubic lice. It’s easy to tell the difference between human lice and crab lice. The human louse has a large abdomen. The abdomen of the crab louse is wider than it is long and has small protuberances on each side. Crab louse nits are smaller than those […]
The body louse
The body louse, Pediculus humanus corporis, is similar to the head louse. The differences that separate it from the head louse are small and uncertain. Even specialists may find it difficult to distinguish between the two subspecies. Body lice lay their nits in the clothes etc. we wear on the body. One can assume that […]
Collective lice control
The Danish Board of Health periodically publishes a guide on how to deal with lice in schools and institutions. Authorities provide information and assistance when necessary. The local nurse is a key person. All in all, it works well, but there may be different kinds of issues. The lice are often discovered in children in […]
Lice control
Lice can be killed between two nails or between the front teeth. It takes a pinch of approx. l kg. Mechanical methods such as these have been used for millennia. Combing the hair with a fine-tooth comb can be an effective method; however, this method can be both painful and laborious. These methods plus shaving […]
Spreading of head lice
Head lice are transmitted by direct contact between human heads. Other ways of transmission is highly unlikely. In what stage of a lice infestation, lice is most infectious is not known. Biologically speaking, it is logical that the lice migrate as soon as possible, once they have established themselves in the head, and when they […]
Detection
To detect lice requires experience, patience and good eyesight. It is important that as many people as possible have this experience – especially in periods with very few lice infestations. The lice should be shown to others; however, respect and consideration of the infected person should be kept in mind. Lice. If moving lice are […]
Suspicion of head lice
The five different indications listed here, each contributes to the suspicion that there are lice in the hair. Suspicion should not result in a headlong eradication process; however, it can be a cause for inspection. 1. If you see one or more small, red patches on the scalp especially behind the ears the back of […]
Life cycle
Head lice glue their eggs (called nits) to the base of the hairs. The glue hardens within 20 seconds, and then is insoluble. The glue is made up of a substance which – chemically speaking – is similar to hair. The nits are laid one by one and are quite large compared to the lice. […]
Lice bites
A louse about to suck, stations itself with the body perpendicular to the skin. A short tube appears from the mouth. It has many small and sharp chitin teeth in the front of the tube. They act as barbs when the louse head is anchored to the skin. Then three long, elastic rods are shot […]
Occurrence
In scalp hair, the lice mainly keep to the quietest areas: In the neck and behind the ears. Age and sex. Lice are not equally common to all people. In young children – under 4 years – head lice are seen equally often among boys and girls. As children get older lice are more common […]
The head louse
The head louse, Pediculus humanus capitis, is a small, flat and elongated insect. The adult females measure 2.4 to 3.3 mm in length. Lice in other stages of their life and the males are smaller. In the front, there is a small head with a mouth and two antennae and two simple eyes. The chest […]
Lice
Lice form an insect order Anoplura, or sucking lice, that do not have close relations to other insects. Lice are bloodsuckers. They live in the fur of mammals but not all kinds of mammals. They only live on one family of predators, namely the Canidae. Pediculus humanus is a species of louse that infects humans. […]
Dealing with the problem
The biting and stinging animals are different and you have to deal with each problem in accordance with the biology of the biting or stinging animal. Therefore, it is important to start by determining what kind of animal you are dealing with. If you catch the animal in the act the matter is clear. But […]
Symptoms
In many cases, the biting or stinging insect has not been seen. They may be operating in the dark or are so small that they are hard to spot, and it would be nice if the symptoms alone could determine which species did the biting or stinging. Unfortunately it is not that simple. The itchy […]
- « Previous Page
- 1
- …
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- Next Page »