Phthiraptera

Common Name: lice

Formerly two separate Orders:

Mallophaga (chewing lice, "wool eat" and Anoplura (sucking lice, "unarmed tail")

Small, dorsoventrally flattened

Wingless ectoparasites

Compound eyes small or absent

One claw and tarsal segment

Hematophagous on mammals

Eggs (photo at left) called nits; adults often called "cooties"