The Amblycera are a large suborder of chewing lice

Chewing louse

Mallophaga is a suborder of lice, known as chewing lice, biting lice or bird lice, containing more than 3000 species. They have paurometabolis or incomplete metamorphosis....

, parasitic on both birds and mammals. The Amblycera are considered the most primitive suborder of lice.

Description

These insects are very much like the familiar advanced sucking lice, except they do not stay on their host permanently. They roam freely over the surface of their host

Host (biology)

In biology, a host is an organism that harbors a parasite, or a mutual or commensal symbiont, typically providing nourishment and shelter. In botany, a host plant is one that supplies food resources and substrate for certain insects or other fauna...

 and, unlike other lice, do not form permanent attachments. They feed by chewing soft areas of skin, causing an area of localized bleeding from which they drink.

Species of this suborder have antennae but they cannot readily be seen because they lie in grooves in the side of the head. Usually the antenna

Antenna (biology)

Antennae in biology have historically been paired appendages used for sensing in arthropods. More recently, the term has also been applied to cilium structures present in most cell types of eukaryotes....

e of suborder Amblycera composes 4-5 segments. The maxillary palps may, however, be present and these may be visible in mounted specimens but may be confused with the antennae. Palps of amblycerans ranges in segments from two to five. The mandibles of this suborder bite horizontally. The head is often broader and more rounder anteriorly than of Anoplura but this morphology difference is not reliable. The tarsi

Arthropod leg

The arthropod leg is a form of jointed appendage of arthropods, usually used for walking. Many of the terms used for arthropod leg segments are of Latin origin, and may be confused with terms for bones: coxa , trochanter , femur, tibia, tarsus, ischium, metatarsus, carpus, dactylus ,...

 of species

Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...

 that parasitise birds have two claws, while of those that parasitise mammals have one only.

Families

The Amblycera are divided into six families

Family (biology)

In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...

:

• Boopidae
• Gyropidae
• Laemobothriidae
  Laemobothriidae
  The Laemobothriidae are a family of a larger group Amblycera of the chewing lice. Most commonly they are ectoparasites of birds. The genera are sometimes all united in Laemobothrion....
  
  
• Menoponidae
  Menoponidae
  Sometimes referred to as the chicken body louse family, the Menoponidae are a family of a larger group Amblycera of the chewing lice. Most commonly they are ectoparasites of a wide range of birds....
  
  
• Ricinidae
• Trimenoponidae

Significant species

Significant Amblycera that parasitise bird

Bird

Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...

s are for example:

• Holomenopon leucoxanthum (Burmeister, 1838) – cause of "wet feathers" of duck
  Duck
  Duck is the common name for a large number of species in the Anatidae family of birds, which also includes swans and geese. The ducks are divided among several subfamilies in the Anatidae family; they do not represent a monophyletic group but a form taxon, since swans and geese are not considered...
  
  s
• Menopon gallinae (Linnaeus, 1958) – the "shaft louse" of poultry
  Poultry
  Poultry are domesticated birds kept by humans for the purpose of producing eggs, meat, and/or feathers. These most typically are members of the superorder Galloanserae , especially the order Galliformes and the family Anatidae , commonly known as "waterfowl"...
  
  , pale yellow in color
• Menopon phaeostomum (Nitzsch, 1818) – usually occurs on peafowl
  Peafowl
  Peafowl are two Asiatic species of flying birds in the genus Pavo of the pheasant family, Phasianidae, best known for the male's extravagant eye-spotted tail, which it displays as part of courtship. The male is called a peacock, the female a peahen, and the offspring peachicks. The adult female...
  
  
• Menecanthus stramineus (Nitzsch, 1818) – the yellow "body louse" of poultry
• Trinoton anserinum (J.C.Fabricus, 1805) – may be found on ducks and swan
  Swan
  Swans, genus Cygnus, are birds of the family Anatidae, which also includes geese and ducks. Swans are grouped with the closely related geese in the subfamily Anserinae where they form the tribe Cygnini. Sometimes, they are considered a distinct subfamily, Cygninae...
  
  s

Species that parasitise mammal

Mammal

Mammals are members of a class of air-breathing vertebrate animals characterised by the possession of endothermy, hair, three middle ear bones, and mammary glands functional in mothers with young...

s are for example:

• Gliricola porcelli (Linnaeus, 1758) – on guinea-pigs
• Gyropus ovalis (Nitzsch, 1818) – on guinea-pigs
• Heterodoxus longitarsus (Piaget, 1880) – on Macropodidae (wallabies and kangaroos)
• Heterodoxus macropus (Le Souef & Bullen, 1902) – on Macropodidae
• Heterodoxus spiniger (Enderlein, 1909) – common on dogs in warm countries (between latitudes 40 degrees north and 40 degrees south)
• Trimenopon hispidium (Burmeister, 1838) – on guinea-pigs