''Pediculus'' is a genus of

sucking lice Sucking lice (Anoplura, formerly known as Siphunculata) have around 500 species and represent the smaller of the two traditional superfamilies of lice. As opposed to the paraphyletic chewing lice, which are now divided among three suborders, ...

, the sole genus in the family Pediculidae. ''Pediculus'' species are

ectoparasite Parasitism is a close relationship between species, where one organism, the parasite, lives on or inside another organism, the host, causing it some harm, and is adapted structurally to this way of life. The entomologist E. O. Wilson has ...

s of primates. Species include: *'' Pediculus clavicornis'' Nitzsch, 1864 *'' Pediculus humanus'' Linnaeus, 1758 **'' Pediculus humanus humanus'' Linnaeus, 1758 – the body louse **'' Pediculus humanus capitis''

De Geer The De Geer family (also: De Geer van Jutphaas and De Geer van Oudegein) is a prominent industrial family of Walloon origin that belongs to the Swedish and Dutch nobility. History The name derives from the town of Geer near Liège (in present ...

, 1767 – the head louse *'' Pediculus mjobergi'' Ferris, 1916 *'' Pediculus schaeffi'' Fahrenholz, 1910 Humans are the hosts of ''Pediculus humanus''.

Chimpanzee The chimpanzee (''Pan troglodytes''), also known as simply the chimp, is a species of great ape native to the forest and savannah of tropical Africa. It has four confirmed subspecies and a fifth proposed subspecies. When its close relative th ...

s and

bonobo The bonobo (; ''Pan paniscus''), also historically called the pygmy chimpanzee and less often the dwarf chimpanzee or gracile chimpanzee, is an endangered great ape and one of the two species making up the genus '' Pan,'' the other being the comm ...

s host ''Pediculus shaeffi''. Various New World monkeys in the families

Cebidae The Cebidae are one of the five families of New World monkeys now recognised. Extant members are the capuchin and squirrel monkeys. These species are found throughout tropical and subtropical South and Central America. Characteristics Cebid mo ...

and Atelidae host ''Pediculus mjobergi''.

References

Lice {{louse-stub