All About Head Lice

Head lice are a problem that most of the world is familiar with. Known for the incessant itching that they cause on the human scalp, these pesky little critters can cause a whole lot of frustration, and can spread quickly from person to person. In this article, we'll examine what head lice are so that you can have a better understanding of these bugs and so you can know how you can do your best to fight them.

First off, we'll examine the life cycle of the head louse. There are five stages of life in these little guys, and they are the nit stage, the 1st nymph stage, the 2nd nymph stage, the 3rd nymph stage and the adult stage. 'Nit' is the term used to describe the eggs that the head louse can hatch out of. These eggs are small in size, and are oval shaped, with a yellow to white appearance. The eggs are basically glued to the hair follicle, allowing them ample opportunity to develop without you knowing. You cannot catch nits, however, they can only be laid by live head lice that are already on your head. After a head louse lays an egg on your hair follicle, there is a period of typically seven to ten days before the egg hatches. When the baby lice hatch, they are of a clear color. Soon after they begin feeding, however, the surface of their bodies begin to take on a dark red color. After birth, the louse will grow rapidly, quickly going through the nymph stages and entering adulthood. After hatching, it will take seven to ten days for the louse to fully mature and be able to create its own eggs. Their lifespan is roughly thirty days, and when a female louse is laying eggs, she can lay up to one hundred.

Now, we'll focus on exactly what a head louse looks like so that you can better diagnose them. They are very small insects, and they are comparable in size to a sesame seed. They have six legs with claws on the ends so that they can grip your hair and hold on tight. Unlike fleas, these insects do not hop; they do not fly, either. All that they do is crawl. Head lice need human blood to survive, and if a louse is removed from its host, it will live for less than 24 hours. One myth about the head louse is that it can be transferred from a pet to its owner. Lice do not survive very well when living on animals, so this type of occurrence is very unlikely.

Now that you know more about head lice, you can better diagnose the problem if you think that you or one of your loved ones may have become a host to them. They're nasty little creatures, but with a little effort, you can rid yourself of the problem quickly and effectively. If you think that you may be afflicted with head lice, do your best to avoid spreading the insects to other people.

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