Pthirus

Pthirus is a genus of lice. There are only two extant species, and they are the sole known members of the family Pthiridae.^[4] Pthirus gorillae infests gorillas,^[5] and Pthirus pubis afflicts humans, and is commonly known as the crab louse or pubic louse.^[6] The two species diverged some 3.3 million years ago.^[7]

Pthirus
Pthirus gorillae
Pthirus pubis
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Psocodea
Suborder:	Troctomorpha
Infraorder:	Nanopsocetae
Parvorder:	Phthiraptera
Superfamily:	Anoplura
Family:	Pthiridae Ewing, 1929
Genus:	Pthirus Leach, 1815[1]
Type species
Pediculus pubis[2] Linnaeus, 1758
Species
P. gorillae Ewing, 1927 P. pubis (Linnaeus, 1758)
Synonyms
Phthirus Leach, 1817[3]

Since 1958 the generic name Pthirus has been spelled with pth rather than phth, despite this being based on a misspelling of the Greek-derived phthirus.^[3][8]

References

1. Brewster, David, ed. (1815). "Entomology". The Edinburgh Encyclopædia. Vol. 9. Edinburgh: Blackwood. p. 77. doi:10.5962/bhl.title.30911.
2. Hemming, Francis, ed. (1957). "Direction 64. Addition to the Official List of Specific Names in Zoology (a) of the specific names of nineteen species belonging to the class Insecta, each of which is the type species of a genus, the name of which was placed on the Official List of Generic Names in Zoology in the period up to the end of 1936 and (B) of the specific names of three species belonging to the same class which are currently treated as senior Subjective synonyms of the names of such species". Opinions and Declarations Rendered by the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature. 1E (4): 66.
3. "Taxonomy of Human Lice". Phthiraptera.info. Archived from the original on April 14, 2020.
4. Berenbaum, May R. (2009). The earwig's tail: a modern bestiary of multi-legged legends. Harvard University Press. p. 27. ISBN 978-0-674-03540-9.
5. Reed, David L.; Light, Jessica E.; Allen, Julie M.; Kirchman, Jeremy J. (2007). "Pair of lice lost or parasites regained: the evolutionary history of anthropoid primate lice". BMC Biology. 5: 7. doi:10.1186/1741-7007-5-7. PMC 1828715. PMID 17343749.
6. Rapini, Ronald P.; Bolognia, Jean L.; Jorizzo, Joseph L. (2007). Dermatology. St. Louis, Missouri: Mosby. ISBN 978-1-4160-2999-1.
7. Weiss, RA (2009). "Apes, lice and prehistory". J. Biol. 8 (2): 20. doi:10.1186/jbiol114. PMC 2687769. PMID 19232074.
8. Hemming, Francis, ed. (1957). "Direction 63. Completion and in certain Cases correction of entries relating to the names of genera belonging to the class Insecta made in the Official List of Generic Names in Zoology in the period up to the end of 1936". Opinions and Declarations Rendered by the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature. 1E (3): 32.

External links

• Data related to Pthirus at Wikispecies