Did you know that a louse on its original host will adapt to the hair color of its host?
Head lice are the ultimate tricksters camouflaging to the hair color is just one of their many party tricks. Relying heavily on our body temperature to climate control, a female louse lays 5-10 nits a day strategically laying each nit so that they can incubate, much like a chicken egg. A nits close proximity to the scalp may help to play a major role in why nits are so easily mistaken for dandruff. Glued to the base of the hair shaft the small dot of the embryo disappears leaving only the shell/ casing visible to the naked eye. On closer inspection casings appear tear drop or oval in shape translucent or clear in color. When a nit hatches its hatchling is called a nymph. Until a nymph molts into adulthood the louse is asexual only choosing a sex after they have determined what is required for a thriving infestation. If you are like me then a dry, itchy scalp will send you straight to the shower for a sudsy head scrub to scrub those flakes away. When a louse detects moisture it will immediately shut its body down until it is no longer moist.
Tricky little louse!
This is just another party trick that these tricky little head lice perform once the louse detects water they shut their neurological systems down and can remain in this state for up to 18hrs. These parasites are nocturnal feeding mostly at night sometimes causing the host to have a restless night and unable to find a cause. Much like mosquitoes when these parasites feed they inject a secretion that numbs the feeding site, as the infestation grows so does the quantity of the secretion if your body is able to detox quickly enough the excess secretion can swell the lymph nodes.
Head lice have many tricks but for every trick our Pink Combs have a treat. Â
