Two weeks ago, I posted this mysterious pair. They are Fahrenholzia fairchildi, Johnson 1962, commonly found on rodents in tropical climates.

This species is unique in that it has been found with other lice of the genus Fahrenholzia on the same host. It is unusual to have different species of the same genus on the same host (Johnson 1962).  Johnson describes its defining characters to include claws of the posterior legs being almost as long as the width of the head and the lateral lobes of the eighth segment as oval in shape.

I have been curating the chewing lice in our collection, so the next episode of Friday Night Lice will likely feature one of those! Stay tuned…