Do you know what this bug is? It’s a louse. And normally we don’t have a louse, we do have lice! You have probably heard about lice in school. Maybe some of your friends have or have had lice, or maybe even you do!!!!!! They itch, don’t they?
The truth is that lice have a very good time at school, because there are many boys and girls, and many heads to make a home in. We will now explain what are and how they live.
What are lice?
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Are very small animals. This small, indeed. And the males are smaller than the females.
Are insects. They are hematophages, which means that they only feed on blood. They take advantage of us; they suck our blood and live in our hair. That is why they are called parasites. Hungry lice suck blood in very small amounts but very often, and that is why people with lice scratch their head so much. |
What is a louse like?
Apart from being very small, are grey in color and sometimes yellow, and when they have sucked our blood they turn red because of the blood they contain.
Although are very small, they have all the body parts: head, body and legs.
The head is much smaller than the rest of the body, though it has two eyes and a mouth.
The mouth produces saliva, a sticky substance that allows the lice to stick to the hair. They stick to hair so tightly that not even washing with water and soap can loosen them… That is why WE MUST ALWAYS DO AS TOLD BY OUR TEACHER OR PARENTS TO GET RID OF THEM!
The body (or thorax) has three pairs of legs, which help the lice hook onto hair.
On both sides of the body there are a series of holes for breathing, and the genital apparatus, which allows them to reproduce.
How is a louse born and how does it live?
The female louse places the eggs or nits. She can lay 10 eggs in a single day, and during her lifetime produces about 200.
One or one and a half weeks after laying the eggs, the nymphs appear. These then change and grow, and after 15 days are already adults, i.e., lice.
To summarize, we may say that lice live in three stages:
Have you ever been visited by a louse?
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Lice feel at home in the hair of people, because it is nice and warm there. That is why they go running to find a head to make a comfortable home for themselves.
Children between 6 and 10 years old are the favorite homes of lice, because they usually have fine and clean hair, and mmmm!, that’s the kind of hair they like most. But sometimes we are the ones who without knowing pass lice on to other people. |
How we get rid of a louse?
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Nobody likes lice, because they itch a lot, but as we have already explained, while they are very easy to find at school, they are more difficult to get rid of.
In other words, the best you can do to get rid of lice is to do what the teachers explain in school. Above all, be patient when your parents make you carry out the treatment at home. REMEMBER: THE BEST THING ABOUT LICE IS NOT HAVING ANY. YOU SHOULD THEREFORE DO AS TOLD TO GET RID OF THEM!!! |