Polyplacidae is a

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

of lice in the suborder

Anoplura 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 sucking lice. Lice in this family are known commonly as the spiny rat lice. The family has a cosmopolitan distribution. As of 2010 there were 193 species.Light, J. E., et al. (2010)
Evolutionary history of mammalian sucking lice (Phthiraptera: Anoplura).
''BMC Evolutionary Biology'', 10(1), 292. These are small to medium-sized lice. They are usually

sexually dimorphic Sexual dimorphism is the condition where the sexes of the same animal and/or plant species exhibit different morphological characteristics, particularly characteristics not directly involved in reproduction. The condition occurs in most ani ...

. They have 5-segmented antennae and small, slender, clawed forelegs. Their middle and hindlegs may be almost equal in size, or the hindlegs may be larger.Durden, L. A. & Webb, J. P. (1999)
''Abrocomaphthirus hoplai'', a new genus and species of sucking louse from Chile and its relevance to zoogeography.
''Medical and Veterinary Entomology'', 13(4), 447-452. Lice in this family are

parasites 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 ha ...

of many types of small mammals, including spiny rats,

cavies Caviidae, the cavy family, is composed of rodents native to South America and includes the domestic guinea pig, wild cavies, and the largest living rodent, the capybara. They are found across South America in open areas from moist savanna to tho ...

, rabbits, hares, chinchillas,

bushbabies Galagos , also known as bush babies, or ''nagapies'' (meaning "night monkeys" in Afrikaans), are small nocturnal primates native to continental, sub-Sahara Africa, and make up the family Galagidae (also sometimes called Galagonidae). They are ...

lemur Lemurs ( ) (from Latin ''lemures'' – ghosts or spirits) are wet-nosed primates of the superfamily Lemuroidea (), divided into 8 families and consisting of 15 genera and around 100 existing species. They are endemic to the island of Madagas ...

s, squirrels,

shrew Shrews (family Soricidae) are small mole-like mammals classified in the order Eulipotyphla. True shrews are not to be confused with treeshrews, otter shrews, elephant shrews, West Indies shrews, or marsupial shrews, which belong to differ ...

s, pouched rats,

treeshrew The treeshrews (or tree shrews or banxrings) are small mammals native to the tropical forests of South and Southeast Asia. They make up the entire order Scandentia, which split into two families: the Tupaiidae (19 species, "ordinary" treeshrew ...

s, hyraxes, and

Oriental dormice The Orient is a term for the East in relation to Europe, traditionally comprising anything belonging to the Eastern world. It is the antonym of ''Occident'', the Western World. In English, it is largely a metonym for, and coterminous with, the c ...

. Members of this family are quite variable based on its current description and molecular data suggest that the family is paraphyletic. It requires study and a revision to make the description of the family as a whole more accurate. Genera include:Polyplacidae.
Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) *'' Abrocomaphthirus'' *'' Ctenophthirus'' *'' Cuyana'' *'' Docophthirus'' *'' Eulinognathus'' *'' Fahrenholzia'' *'' Galeophthirus'' *'' Haemodipsus'' *'' Johnsonpthirus'' *'' Lagidiophthirus'' *'' Lemurpediculus'' *'' Lemurphthirus'' *'' Linognathoides'' *'' Mirophthirus'' *'' Neohaematopinus'' *'' Phthirpediculus'' *'' Polyplax'' *'' Proenderleinellus'' *'' Sathrax'' *'' Scipio'' *'' Typhlomyophthirus''

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q11822990 Lice Insect families