DSC_8512 Albatross feather-chewing louse (Harrisoniella hopkinsi) female. These are among the worlds largest lice, with males up to 9mm long. There are usually fewer than half a dozen adult specimens found on any single host bird - typically other species of feather lice may number in the hundreds. The louse is shaped to lie along the shaft of the wing feathers of Royal and Wandering albatross species. Feather lice radiated in response to the evolution of feathers - probably on the early therapod dinosaurs. Albatross and their dependant lice co-evolved between 40 and 50 million years ago making this a very old relationship indeed. Taiaroa Head, Otago Peninsula *
DSC_4901 Head louse (Pediculus humanus capitis) nymph. An obligate ectoparasite of humans. These wingless insects spend their entire lives on the human scalp and feed exclusively on human blood. Humans are the only known hosts of this parasite, however chimpanzees are host to a closely related species (Pediculus schaeffi). Dunedin
