Haematomyzus
Encyclopedia
The genus Haematomyzus includes three species of lice that differ so markedly from all other lice that they have been placed in a suborder of their own. These unusual lice are ectoparasites of elephant
s and warthog
s. Their mouthparts are elongated to form a drill-like structure that allows them to penetrate the thick skin of their host. The three species, Haematomyzus elephantis (the elephant louse), Haematomyzus hopkinsi and Haematomyzus porci (warthog lice) belong to a single family, the Haematomyzidae.
H. elephantis is known from both the African and Asian Elephant (Price, et al., 2003).
The first spelling of "Rhyncophthirina" by Ferris was a lapse, and in subsequent use of the term he spelled it "Rhynchophthirina" adding the second "h". Ordinal names are not covered by the International Code of Nomenclature and thus the name and spelling comes down to a matter of personal preference. The majority of phthirapterists spell the suborder as "Rhynchophthirina" as did Hopkins and Clay, 1952, and Price et al., 2003.
Elephant
Elephants are large land mammals in two extant genera of the family Elephantidae: Elephas and Loxodonta, with the third genus Mammuthus extinct...
s and warthog
Warthog
The Warthog or Common Warthog is a wild member of the pig family that lives in grassland, savanna, and woodland in Sub-Saharan Africa. In the past it was commonly treated as a subspecies of P...
s. Their mouthparts are elongated to form a drill-like structure that allows them to penetrate the thick skin of their host. The three species, Haematomyzus elephantis (the elephant louse), Haematomyzus hopkinsi and Haematomyzus porci (warthog lice) belong to a single family, the Haematomyzidae.
H. elephantis is known from both the African and Asian Elephant (Price, et al., 2003).
The first spelling of "Rhyncophthirina" by Ferris was a lapse, and in subsequent use of the term he spelled it "Rhynchophthirina" adding the second "h". Ordinal names are not covered by the International Code of Nomenclature and thus the name and spelling comes down to a matter of personal preference. The majority of phthirapterists spell the suborder as "Rhynchophthirina" as did Hopkins and Clay, 1952, and Price et al., 2003.