Lice Facts
Lice Facts
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| Interesting Lice Facts: |
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| The lice's eggs are called nits. The nits attach to the hair shaft and often look like dandruff. They are so small that sometimes they are not noticed. A nit is white or yellow, and generally takes about seven days to hatch into a nymph. |
| Baby lice are called nymphs. Nymphs take about a week to grow into an adult, called a louse. |
| The louse is the grown-up version of head lice. It will appear tan or grey in color and is about the same size as a sesame seed. Lice can live up to 30 days in someone's hair! |
| There are many ways to spread head lice, including sharing brushes and combs, hats, earphones, and even just playing with someone who has it. People often don't know they have it until it has spread. It is common with young children because they play so closely with their friends. |
| There are several signs that someone might have head lice including itching, or the feeling that a bug is moving on the scalp. Although nits attach to the hair shaft - the lice move quickly. |
| To get rid of head lice there are special shampoos that will kill them. There are also little combs to help remove the nits from the hair shafts, but it is a long process. |
| Head lice cannot survive longer than 48 hours without the host so they tend to stay on a person's head so that they can continue to feed. |
| Itching is caused by an allergic reaction to the saliva of the lice. If one is not allergic they will not scratch even when they have head lice. |
| Nits cannot spread. They must be laid by the lice. Lice can spread. |
| Lice are born clear in color. After feeding on the host's scalp lice will turn reddish-brown colored. |
| You can't drown head lice by keeping your hair under water. They can hold their breath for up to eight hours. |
| Some people believe that head lice infest people that do not bathe. It's not true. Head lice like clean scalps too. |
| While newborn nymphs cannot reproduce, the louse can. Once the nymph reaches the adult stage of being a louse it is ready to reproduce and lay nits on someone's hair. It's important to notice them before they reach this stage so that they can be killed with medicated shampoo and stop them from reproducing. |