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Note

"Mallophaga"

Vince Smith and Rod Page

The "Mallophaga" are a paraphyletic grouping comprising all lice other than the Anoplura. The diagram below displays the range of morphologies of various families of "Mallophaga."

Click on a louse to see which family it belongs to:

Morphologies of various Mallophagan families

Amblycera

A: Menoponidae (all orders of birds, includes the Trinotonidae) 
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B: Trinotonidae (most spp.- Ducks, geese and swans) 
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C: Laemobothriidae (rails, storks, hawks) 
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D: Ricinidae (small passerines, including the Trochiliphagidae of hummingbirds) 
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E: Trochiliphagidae (hummingbirds)
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F: Boopiidae (most spp.- Australian marsupials) 
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G: Gyropidae (cavimorph rodents) 
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H: Trimenoponidae (neotropical marsupials & cavimorph rodents) 
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I: Abrocomophagidae (a single species from a rodent)
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Rhyncophthirina

J: Haematomyzidae (elephants and wart-hogs) 
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Ischnocera

K: Trichodectidae (mammals) 
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L: Philopteridae (all bird orders) 
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M: Heptapsogasteridae (Tinamiform birds) 
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Title Illustration

Morphologies of various Mallophagan families.

Original drawing modified from Lakshminarayana, K. V. (1986). "Data book for the study of chewing lice (Phthiraptera : Insecta)." Records of the Zoological Survey of India: Miscellaneous Publication, Occasional Paper No. 81: 1-63.; modified by R.D.M. Page, 1997).

Note that this diagram is intended to illustrate the morphological diversity of the "mallophaga" and should not be interpreted as a classification scheme for chewing lice. I am currently preparing a generic phylogeny for the Ischnocera however no such scheme exists for the Amblycera to date.

Picture copyright © 1997, R.D.M. Page.

About This Page


The Natural History Museum

Rod Page
University of Glasgow, Scotland, UK

All Rights Reserved.

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