. Animal parasites and human disease. Medical parasitology; Insects as carriers of disease. LIFE HISTORY OF BODY LOUSE 391 —hctir —fibres Habits and Life History. — Although there has been very close association between lice and human beings probably since man's first appearance in the world, little definite knowledge concerning the life history of any of the three species was ob- tained until recently. The importance of lice in the great anti- German war has stimulated much research on them. One of the first experiments with the breeding of body lice was made by the great zoological pioneer,
. Animal parasites and human disease. Medical parasitology; Insects as carriers of disease. LIFE HISTORY OF BODY LOUSE 391 —hctir —fibres Habits and Life History. — Although there has been very close association between lice and human beings probably since man's first appearance in the world, little definite knowledge concerning the life history of any of the three species was ob- tained until recently. The importance of lice in the great anti- German war has stimulated much research on them. One of the first experiments with the breeding of body lice was made by the great zoological pioneer, Leeuenhoek, in the 17th century. He placed two female lice in his stocking and tied them in; after six days he opened the brood chamber and found a cluster of 50 eggs beside one of the lice and another cluster of 40 eggs, probably laid by the other insect which had escaped. He found 50 more eggs in the remaining louse. He left the eggs in his stocking ten days more, when he dis- covered 25 young lice, where- upon he abandoned his experi- ment in disgust. The eggs of lice, commonly called "nits," are oval, whitish objects fitted with a little lid at the larger end, through which the hatching takes place. The eggs of the body louse are about one mm. (^V of an inch) in length. They are glued to the fibers of clothing (Fig. 175B) especially along seams or creases, although in all other lice the eggs are glued to hair. Under experimental conditions the body louse will sometimes lay eggs on hairs, but it nearly always selects the crossing point of two hairs and shows less skill in attaching the eggs. The body louse shows a marked " homing " instinct in laying her eggs and shows a strong desire to lay eggs where others have been laid, until clusters of from 50 to 75 or more have been formed. According to recent experiments by Sikora in Germany and Bacot in England, the number of eggs laid by the single female body louse may frequently reach 200 or more. Bacot
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