Pig louse
The pig louse is a little flat bug that lives on pigs and nowhere else. It is one of the biggest lice there is, big enough to see without a magnifying glass. It holds on to pig hair with strong claws and drinks the pig's blood.
How big is it?
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Fun facts
It is the only louse that lives on pigs.
Its tummy turns black when it is full of blood.
A mother lays about 90 eggs, called nits, glued to the pig's hair, and they hatch after about two weeks.
Its babies like to stay near the pig's head and ears.
If it falls off its pig, it can only live for 2 or 3 days.
Most asked questions about Pig louse
?Can pig lice live on people?
No. Pig lice live only on pigs.
?How big is a pig louse?
About 5 to 6 millimetres long, big enough to see with your own eyes.
?What does a pig louse eat?
Only pig blood.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Haematopinus suis
- Named by
- Linnaeus, 1758
- Group
- Other insects
- Family
- Haematopinidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Psocodea > Haematopinidae
- Lives on
- Europe, North America
- Also known as
- Hog louse
Where the facts come from
- Haematopinus suis (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
- Picture by Daniel J. Drew. CC0, Wikimedia Commons. The round sticker of this bug is cut from the same picture.
If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.
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