Menoponidae is a

monophyletic In cladistics for a group of organisms, monophyly is the condition of being a clade—that is, a group of taxa composed only of a common ancestor (or more precisely an ancestral population) and all of its lineal descendants. Monophyletic gro ...

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

lice Louse ( : lice) is the common name for any member of the clade Phthiraptera, which contains nearly 5,000 species of wingless parasitic insects. Phthiraptera has variously been recognized as an order, infraorder, or a parvorder, as a result o ...

in the

superfamily SUPERFAMILY is a database and search platform of structural and functional annotation for all proteins and genomes. It classifies amino acid sequences into known structural domains, especially into SCOP superfamilies. Domains are functional, str ...

of chewing lice,

Amblycera The Amblycera are a large clade of chewing lice, parasitic on both birds and mammals. The Amblycera are considered the most primitive clade of lice. Description These insects are very much like the familiar advanced sucking lice, except they ...

, often referred to as the chicken body louse family. They are

ectoparasites 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 ...

of a wide range of birds including chickens, which makes them important to understand for veterinary science and for human health. However, Menoponidae are not exclusive to poultry and are common parasites for migratory birds, with more and more species being discovered every year.

Biology

Genera and species within the family Menoponidae are identified by their short antennae, concealed in grooves behind the eyes. To the untrained eye, it may appear as though they have no antennae. Most lice also further specialize to specific regions on their hosts such as the fluff at the base of the tail, the head, and the shaft. In fact, if a species that is better suited to tail feathers is presented with the opportunity to infest a different type of feather, they will make an attempt to eat those feathers but will fail to reproduce and soon die. As a group within the subfamily Amblycera, lice within the family Menoponidae are still partially dependent on blood as a source of food and are therefore better able to be generalists. The lice will scratch and nibble at the base of the feather in order to obtain this blood and modified mouth organs, such as the hypopharynx, is used to collect the blood. Due to their ability to utilize blood as a source of food, families in Amblycera, such as Menoponidae, often do not specialize to specific locations on the host and will lay their eggs most anywhere on the host. This lack of specialization often makes it more difficult to distinguish one species from another in Menoponidae, without the use of microscopic techniques. As with all lice, those in the family Menoponidae have the capability of reproducing quickly and causing large-scale outbreaks. Due to the close contact of poultry in large-scale productions, this capability is often acutely realized.

Ecology

Lice in the family Menoponidae, due to their ability to feed on blood, are often the first parasites found on birds, especially birds with

nidifugous In biology, nidifugous ( , ) organisms are those that leave the nest shortly after hatching or birth. The term is derived from Latin ''nidus'' for "nest" and ''fugere'', meaning "to flee". The terminology is most often used to describe birds and w ...

young. Nidifugous young are born with feathers and therefore are particularly susceptible to lice in the family Menoponidae. Menoponidae lice frequently have a wider range of distribution among species. In a study of 25 heavily infested birds in India, lice in the family Menoponidae were the most-common parasites.

Species of interest

Menacanthus stramineus ''Menacanthus'' is a genus of chewing lice which parasitise birds. The taxonomy of this genus is highly uncertain. Most taxonomies have given this genus as having over a hundred species, but recent studies have synonymised dozens of species and f ...

'' – An ectoparasite of domesticated chickens and turkeys and the most common louse found on poultry worldwide. Eggs hatch in 4–5 days with a 14-day period required for maturatation from nymph to adult. Adult females can deposit approximately 1.5 eggs per day for 12.5 days. ''

Menopon gallinae ''Menopon'' is a genus of lice belonging to the family Menoponidae Menoponidae is a monophyletic family of lice in the superfamily of chewing lice, Amblycera, often referred to as the chicken body louse family. They are ectoparasites of a ...

'' – Louse commonly found on domesticated chickens and guinea fowl. Their common name, the shaft louse, is given due to their habit of resting on feather shafts when undisturbed. When disturbed, lice of these species will quickly run onto the body to avoid the threat.

Selected genera

* ''

Actornithophilus ''Actornithophilus'' is a genus of louse in the family Amblycera. It was circumscribed by Gordon Floyd Ferris in 1916. Its species are ectoparasites of birds in the order Charadriiformes Charadriiformes (, from ''Charadrius'', the type genus ...

'' * ''

Apterygon ''Apterygon'' is a genus of louse. It is endemic to New Zealand and is an ectoparasite of kiwi birds (''Apteryx''). Theresa Clay circumscribed the genus in 1961. In 1947, she had referred to this genus as "New Genus D", but it was not formally ...

'' * ''

Austromenopon ''Austromenopon'' is a genus of insects belonging to the family Menoponidae Menoponidae is a monophyletic family of lice in the superfamily of chewing lice, Amblycera, often referred to as the chicken body louse family. They are ectoparasi ...

'' * ''

Colpocephalum ''Colpocephalum'' is a genus of chewing louse. Christian Ludwig Nitzsch named the genus in 1818. The Plenary Powers of the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature selected ''Colpocephalum zebra'' as its type species in the 1950s. The ...

'' * '' Kurodaia'' * '' Longimenopon'' * ''

Menacanthus ''Menacanthus'' is a genus of chewing lice which parasitise birds. The taxonomy of this genus is highly uncertain. Most taxonomies have given this genus as having over a hundred species, but recent studies have synonymised dozens of species and f ...

'' * ''

Menopon ''Menopon'' is a genus of lice belonging to the family Menoponidae Menoponidae is a monophyletic family of lice in the superfamily of chewing lice, Amblycera, often referred to as the chicken body louse family. They are ectoparasites of a ...

'' * '' Meromenopon'' * ''

Myrsidea ''Myrsidea'' is a genus of lice belonging to the family Menoponidae. The genus has cosmopolitan distribution In biogeography, cosmopolitan distribution is the term for the range of a taxon that extends across all or most of the world in app ...

'' * '' Nosopon''

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2981034 Lice Insect families Ectoparasites Parasites of birds