End the Life Cycle of Head Louse
Most readily associated with school children, the head louse is a small parasite that feeds on human blood. While the life cycle of head louse is a short five to seven week period, this cycle includes a rapid rate of reproduction, greatly multiplying the irritability to the host, and increasing the potential for cross contamination to family members or classmates.
Unlike other parasites, head louse cannot jump or fly, making contact necessary for transfer from one person to another. That contact can come in the form of physical contact or by sharing an item such as a hat or comb that has been used by someone who has head lice. Once infested, the life cycle of head louse will continue until treated with medicine designed to kill head lice and louse eggs.
Life Cycle of Head Louse – Phase 1
The louse life cycle begins with the egg phase. Eggs are laid at the base of the hair, near the root, and are attached with a chemical that acts like glue, ensuring that the head louse's development will not be interrupted by water or wind.
This phase includes a gestation period averaging ten days. The egg will hatch, freeing the louse, called a nymph, from its confinements, leaving behind an empty shell called a head louse nit. The next stage of the cycle is a growing period for the nymph.
Life Cycle of Head Louse – Phase 2
The nymph portion of the life cycle of head louse last about two weeks, at which time the nymph feeds off of its host environment and develops into an adult louse capable of laying louse eggs of its own.
Life Cycle of Head Louse – Phase 3
A female head louse will lay as many as ten eggs a day. Since the lice life cycle is approximately twenty-eight days once it becomes an adult, a female louse could lay as many as 280 eggs in her lifetime. Left untreated, this first generation of head lice could result in 2,800 louse eggs in roughly a month’s time. This is from just one female louse, and each female offspring begins a new life cycle that will begin to increase the number of head lice exponentially within the first month of birth.
Louse control begins with knowledge, and ends with the right lice treatment regimen. You can find several products to serve as indispensable delousing tools at the Nix lice treatment products web page. Understanding the life cycle of head louse is helpful if you are dealing with a lice infestation. Good luck!
head lice | head louse information | headlice treatment | prevention of head louse | nits and eggs | life cycle of head louse | child head louse | head louse symptoms | permethrin | control louse | pictures of head louse | headlice pictures
Life cycle graphic courtesy of University of Nebraska Insects & Pests