Loading AI tools
Family of lice From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Philopteridae are a family of Ischnocera, chewing lice. They are parasitic on birds.[1]
| Philopteridae | |
|---|---|
| |
| Guimaraesiella tovornikae and Sturnidoecus sp., parasites of birds | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Psocodea |
| Suborder: | Troctomorpha |
| Infraorder: | Nanopsocetae |
| Parvorder: | Phthiraptera |
| Superfamily: | Ischnocera |
| Family: | Philopteridae Nitzsch, 1818 |
| Type genus | |
| Philopterus Nitzsch, 1818 | |
| Genera | |
|
Numerous, see text | |
Philopteridae are a highly diverse family with more than 2,700 described species. They probably evolved from a generalist species parasitizing water birds, with a subsequent adaptive radiation facilitated by host switching. Individual species specialize in inhabiting different parts of the body (head, body, wings). Species inhabiting the same part of the host tend to show similar morphology, even if not closely related – they show convergent evolution.[1]
Some notable species are also listed.[2]
Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.
Every time you click a link to Wikipedia, Wiktionary or Wikiquote in your browser's search results, it will show the modern Wikiwand interface.
Wikiwand extension is a five stars, simple, with minimum permission required to keep your browsing private, safe and transparent.
