Lice, Bed Bugs, and Fleas of Columbia County, Oregon

Lice (clade Phthiraptera), also known as “chewing lice” or “sucking lice”, are small crawling parasites that chew or suck on a host in order to feed. They are True Bugs and most closely related to barklice and booklice.

There are hundreds of species of lice which specialize on many different wild animals, for the purpose of this guide I am only including a few species that people are most likely to encounter.

Human Head Louse Pediculus humanus capitis columbia county northwest oregon — **Human Head Louse** (*Pediculus humanus capitis*) – to 0.12″. Grey, turning reddish after sucking blood. Feed exclusively on human blood and will not attach to any other animal. Found on the head and will die within 24 hours without body heat. (photo © mike_h)

Body Louse Pediculus humanus corporis columbia county northwest oregon — **Human Body Louse (*Pediculus humanus corporis*)** – to 0.14″. Closely related to Head Louse and looks identical. Lives in clothes, only moving to body to feed. Rare outside of situations where clothing is difficult to clean (decrepit prisons, refugee camps, or homeless populations). (photo © Janice Carr, CDC)

Pubic Louse Pthirus pubis Crabs columbia county northwest oregon — **Pubic Louse (*Pthirus pubis*)** – to 0.08″. Shorter and rounder than head/body lice and with much thicker legs. Also known as “Crab Louse”, it is typically found in pubic hair though also can appear in course body hair, armpits, or eyebrows. (photo © Nuno Veríssimo P.)

Dog Chewing Louse Trichodectes canis columbia county northwest oregon — **Dog Chewing Louse** (*Trichodectes canis*) – to 0.07″. A small flat louse. As a “chewing louse”, it scrapes skin and fluids off the skin rather than sucking blood. Found on domestic dogs as well as wild canids such as coyotes. (photo © Daniel Drew)

Dog Sucking Louse Linognathus setosus columbia county northwest oregon — **Dog Sucking Louse (*Linognathus setosus*)** – to 0.1″. As a “sucking louse”, it inserts its more slender mouthparts into the animal in order to suck its blood. Found on domestic dogs -especially long-haired breeds- as well as wild canids such as coyotes. (photo © Rob Foster)

Pig Louse Haematopinus suis columbia county northwest oregon — **Pig Louse (*Haematopinus suis*)** – to 0.24″. A large louse with slender head and a pointed end. Brown but becomes black when filled with blood. It is the only louse species found on swine. (photo © Marie Lou Legrand)

Chicken Body Louse Menacanthus stramineus columbia county northwest oregon — **Chicken Body Louse** (*Menacanthus stramineus*) – to 0.14″. A chewing louse that concentrates around the vent, thighs, and breast of domestic birds including chickens, turkeys, peacocks, and ducks. The most common and most destructive of the chicken lice. (photo © Kendra Abbott / Abbott Nature Photography)

Poultry Shaft Louse Menopon gallinae columbia county northwest oregon — **Poultry Shaft Louse (*Menopon gallinae*)** – to 0.08″. A slightly smaller species of chewing louse. Live on the shafts of body feathers but also descends to the skin, feeding on feathers, dander, scales, and surface blood. (photo © Juan Cruzado Cortés)

Poultry Wing Louse Lipeurus caponis columbia county northwest oregon — **Poultry Wing Louse (*Lipeurus caponis*)** – to 0.09″. Darker with longer legs and much more slender body than other poultry lice. Found on the undersides of large wing and tail feathers, where it feeds on the feathers themselves as well as dander. (photo © catchang)

Bed Bugs (family Cimicidae) are also parasites and true bugs, but are most closely related to assassin bugs. Unlike lice they tend to crawl away from their host after they’re finished biting in order to digest their meal.

Common Bed Bug Cimex lectularius columbia county northwest oregon — **Common Bed Bug** (*Cimex lectularius*) – 0.2″. Small round reddish-brown bugs. Live in cracks in or near the bed, coming out at night to bite their human prey. Take 5-10 minutes to get a full meal, then retreat back to their hiding spot. (photo © Katja Schulz)

Western Bat Bug Cimex pilosellus columbia county northwest oregon — **Western Bat Bug (*Cimex pilosellus*)** – 0.2″. Have longer hairs than the Common Bed Bug and 3rd antenna segment is just as long as 2nd. Primarily feed on bats but will sometimes move to humans sleeping in the same building. (photo © Juan Cruzado Cortés)

Swallow Nest Bug Oeciacus vicarius columbia county northwest oregon — **Swallow Nest Bug (*Oeciacus vicarius*)** – 0.2″. Found in the nests of cliff swallows and sometimes barn swallows. Where swallows build their nest on homes, on rare occasions these bugs have been known to move from the nests and bite humans. (photo © Sean McCann)

Fleas (order Siphonaptera) are tiny flightless jumping insects most closely related to scorpionflies. They feed by piercing and sucking blood, with different species focusing on different kinds of host.

Fleas are very small and don’t have obvious coloration, so they can only be identified under magnification. For that reason, most of the photos here are from prepared slides.