Pediculus humanus capitis

Domain: Eukaryota • Regnum: Animalia • Phylum: Arthropoda • Subphylum: Hexapoda • Classis: Insecta • Subclassis: Pterygota • Infraclassis: Neoptera • Superordo: Paraneoptera • Ordo: Phthiraptera • Subordo: Anoplura • Familia: Pediculidae • Genus: Pediculus • Species: Pediculus humanus • Subspecies: Pediculus humanus capitis

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SEM Images of a Hair Louse Egg

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  Louse egg attached to a hair shaft of its host

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  To attach each egg, the adult female secretes a glue from her reproductive organ which quickly hardens into a "nit sheath" that covers the hair shaft and the entire egg except for the operculum.

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  The operculum allows the embryo to breathe

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  A head louse hatching from an egg

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  A head louse hatching from an egg (detail)