Polyplacidae
Family of lice
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Polyplacidae is a family of lice in the suborder Anoplura, the sucking lice. Lice in this family are known commonly as the spiny rat lice.[1] The family has a cosmopolitan distribution. As of 2010 there were 193 species.[2]
| Polyplacidae | |
|---|---|
| |
| Eulinognathus denticulatus | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Psocodea |
| Suborder: | Troctomorpha |
| Infraorder: | Phthiraptera |
| Parvorder: | Anoplura |
| Family: | Polyplacidae Fahrenholz, 1912 |
| Genera | |
|
See text | |
These are small to medium-sized lice. They are usually sexually dimorphic. They have 5-segmented antennae and small, slender, clawed forelegs. Their middle and hindlegs may be almost equal in size, or the hindlegs may be larger.[3]
Lice in this family are parasites of many types of small mammals, including spiny rats, cavies, rabbits, hares, chinchillas, bushbabies, lemurs, squirrels, shrews, pouched rats, treeshrews, hyraxes, and Oriental dormice.[2]
Members of this family are quite variable based on its current description and molecular data suggest that the family is paraphyletic. It requires study and a revision to make the description of the family as a whole more accurate.[2]
Genera include:[4]
