Head Lice Facts

Live egg (nit) on hair

Female (L) and Male (R)

Two empty not cases on hair

Head lice or Pediculus capitis are tiny parasites that live on the human scalp and hair.

Head lice:

Do not live on pets
Are reddish-brown wingless insects
Are about the size of a sesame seed
Eggs (nits) are small, grayish-white, oval shaped that are glued at an angle to the side of the hair shaft.
Feed on human blood 3-4 times daily
Cannot live off the human host for more than 24 hours.
Female's can lay up to 100 eggs and require just one mating to be fertilized.
Are able to reproduce in 10 days and eggs hatch in 7-10 days.
Live on a host for approximately 30 days
Eggs further than 1-2cm. from the scalp are usually empty cases which remain attached to the hair even though they are dead.
Are mainly transmitted by head-to-head contact but can also be spread through the sharing of personal articles.
Cannot hop, jump or fly. They swing and climb on the hair and scalp.

Head lice can be managed, provided you take a systematic approach. The steps to managing headlice in your home, family or school community can be found here

	In this very close-up view of a nit you can see just how powerful and claw-like those pincers are. They are perfectly adapted for haning on and swinging around in hair. Photo; Rick Speare
	This image shows the egg (nit)attached to the hair. Note the 'collar' which secures the egg case to the hair shaft. You can clearly see the 'cap' on top of the egg case. Photo; Rick Speare
	This female head lice has just fed (note red tint). You can clearly see a developing eff in her abdomen, ready to be laid. Photo: © Nitpickers
	This is what to look for when inspecting hair - these are eggs. If the eggs are more than 2cm from the scale they are dead (hatched). Photo: © Nitpickers
	The head lice life cycle takes 33-35 days from when the egg is laid till the adult head louse dies. They mate at day 18 and will lay eggs for up to 16 days. Image: © Nitpickers

Nitpicker™ head lice comb

The best fine-toothed metal comb which has been university* tested against other combs and found to remove more eggs than any other comb on the market and is the essential component to any head lice removal treatment It is also the comb most often recommended by many State Government Health Departments.
*Rick Speare, School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine at James Cook University
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