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How long do lice live?
How long do lice live?
Lice refer to a type of parasite that is found both in humans and different animals. They commonly stick as close to the skin as they can and use the claws on their legs to grab onto hair, clothing, or feathers. Although they try their best to stick close to their host, they are quite contagious. Getting infested with lice can occur when an individual or animal gets in direct contact with a host. However, lice come in different species. Each of these caters to a certain species as well, therefore it’s not likely for lice to infest any type of living being other than that of their species.
Since lice don’t have wings, they can only travel through crawling. They can’t hop nor swim either, therefore they cannot relocate to a new host without direct contact neither can they survive very long when they are underwater. Once they fall off from their host, they are likely to die since they will be separated from their food source. Given this, exactly how long can lice actually live?
The life span of lice can pass by quickly since they also grow within rather short periods of time as well. From the moment they hatch from the egg, they begin to feed on the host multiple times in a day. As long as their food source is available to them, they will be capable of surviving for up to a month -they are able to continue multiplying within this period of time as well. Admittedly, lice aren’t so easy to deal with. However, there is something about them that is deemed to be useful information when handling them. Lice can’t spend too long away from their host. If they fall onto different surfaces, they are likely to die within or less than 24 hours. There is a possibility of lice crawling to a new host, but their ability to crawl can only do so much.
Because they can’t jump or swim, this task is rather harder than one would expect it to be. Usually, lice are only able to feed on specific parts of the host. For example, human lice can only live off human blood, while bird lice can only feed on bird feathers or blood. Without their source of food around, they won’t be able to last very long. The same goes for nits or eggs. Unlike nymphs or adult louse, the eggs need their hosts to live and survive for a different reason. The eggs are usually attached close to the skin or the base. This is because they need the warmth coming from the host in order to hatch. As soon as they do, they will immediately need to feed onto the host in order to get the nourishment needed to grow and live. If they were detached from the host, they are likely to die before they are able to hatch. With this, it can be said that lice don’t live for very long periods of time. An infestation can last a long time depending on how many of them are present, especially because adult louse lay numerous eggs a day -which hatch within a short period of time as long as they are close to the host. Otherwise, their lifespan would be a maximum of 30 days with the host or less in the event that they get detached from their habitat.
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