Head lice

Description:

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The head lice are a small insect measuring between 2 mm to 3 mm long, without wings and with a flattened body dorso-ventrally. Dirty white to greyish white in colour, it takes on a reddish hue when it has taken its blood meal.

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Food:

The head lice feed exclusively on the blood of its human host.

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Habits:

The head lice live almost exclusively on the heads of humans. It is visible around the ears and near the nape of the neck. In cases of a large infestation, it can be found in the beard, mustache, eyebrows and eyelashes.

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Reproduction:

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The female lays between 50 to 100 eggs on the hair. The laying takes place especially at night, it produces a secretion on which it deposits the egg to fix it at the base of a hair, near the scalp, while drying, this substance forms very resistant cementum.