Where do head lice come from in the first place?

Reply 40

Slender Loris

3

museobsessed

they can't jump!! honestly!!

Lol okay. They can... fall. Fall great distances. And survive.

Reply 41

Clubber Lang

15

yea we had them 3 or 4 times when we were younger, invovled putting some smelly shapoo stuff on hair (smelt like perfume now i think of it) - IIRC that stuff was banned though as it wasnt regarded as safe anymore or somehting...?

Reply 42

x7xemilyx7x

at one point my dad just used the nit comb with vinegar, it made my scalp sting for hours!

Reply 43

NJA

20

Creationist: the first lice-kind created
Evolutionist: primordial soup
Reincarnationist: mouse with a baaad attitude
Conspiracy theorist: The Illuminati

Reply 44

My1Melody

Original post by 8EnglishRoses

You catch them through close contact with someone carrying them already, they can jump between heads, lay their eggs and then their eggs hatch, you then pass them on to someone else etc etc. That's why there are often outbreaks in primary schools!

But can headlice breathe underwater? Because if they can't then surely you can just immerse your scalp in water (e.g. when you're lying in the bath) and they would all drown.

Hope you don't mind me pointing this out:
This is a comment on the above post, though I to would like to know where they actually come from.......where do the start>

It is a common misconception, unlike fleas, fortunately head lice DO NOT JUMP.......they do not possess the ability or the brains.
Unfortunately they do spread easily through close/direct contact with the host........explains why at times they are rife in schools, children regularly sit very close to one another, often having head to head contact.
Head lice are more common in girls than boys, the reason for this is considered to be because girl often have longer hair and if its lose, the lice can easy transfer from head to head and they CAN MOVE RAPIDLY!. Then of course you get the odd family who don't properly prevent the infestation, resulting in party time for the lice!

Adults are sometime transfered onto non humans, things like hats, bedding, towels etc, where they can survive for sometime before another suitable host comes close. UUUGGHHHHHH.

If they do drown, the likelihood is that they've laid that many eggs that within a few days these will have hatched and the new lot would be munching away at your head again.
When the lice lay eggs they're attached to the hair shaft with a special kind of glue, which is is produced in a line along the hair.............which keeps the egg attached like no bodies business.
NASTY

Reply 45

SpiritedAway

17

Original post by Spudder

How come the vast vast majority of nit-catchers are kids?

Kids usually don't have person bubbles, whereas as adults, we tend to respect each other's personal space. I mean, very rarely you're close enough to another adult to catch them. Whereas children stand closer together when they play, and such as in a classroom, they'll be sat next to someone close enough for the nit to jump.

I got them quite a lot as a child, though I have 4 younger siblings who used to also get them and I'm pretty sure the girl I sat next to had them :colonhash:

I didn't like the thought of them pooing in my hair though :afraid:

.

Reply 46

thunder_chunky

19

Thankfully I never got them but I have heard of bad outbreaks at schools not far from me. Rather them than me

Reply 47

Karina082

I understand your question. I wonder how they came about too. They cannot live without humans and they definitely weren't born with the humans. Its like how was lice invented if it was a thing but it's an insect.

Reply 48

Ladyb83

I'm thinking the same and reading these comments these lot don't seem to get your question either lol ... We know they live in hair and move from head to head but HOW and WHERE do they come from in the first place one couldn't just Magically grow on a person so how did they get into this world jeeeez anybody

Reply 49

joey11223

20

Yeah most are missing the question. How did they come about when they rely on being on your hair in the first place. Though you could say the same for many parasites which cannot live for prolonged times without a host. I'd imagine historically they were able to survive not being on a host for some time, laying dormant in areas a host may lay down for some time until they could attach themselves to one. However since historically humans wouldn't have known how to effectively remove them, they'd have hundreds of generations of lice on the same individuals, early man wouldn't have known not to lay next to someone else with an itchy head, for instance. So I imagine adaptations which made them even better at surviving within the hair/fur on their host led them to be more successful on the head, but worse at surviving off it, for example their legs ending in claws to grip onto hair are better if you're there all the time, but worse if you fall off, as you can't jump like a flea and walk around more awkwardly. Though head lice can survive for a day or two not on the head, so if people were sharing pillows during this time they can spread.