Last week we posted images of a spiny louse and asked for guesses about its mammal host. Well, the louse in the photograph, specimen PSUC_FEM 1005427-2, was collected in Mozambique, off of a Southern African Spiny Mouse (Rodentia: Muridae: Acomys spinosissimus). These mice are notorious for their autotomy abilities. That is, they’re capable of shedding body parts if they get attacked by a predator. Acomys spinosissimus can jettison its tail (see photo above, the far left individual), just like many lizards, but other species of Acomys can shed huge areas of their skin (see high profile but paywalled article by Seifert et al. 2012). Ouch! The louse, by the way, is Polyplax acomydis Kim & Emerson, 1970 (Anoplura: Polyplacidae).
Of course many insects and their relatives use this kind of defense—Tipulidae is a famous example—including close relatives of sucking lice, the non-parasitic bark lice (e.g., Psocidae). Many of them are capable of shedding their antennae. What a crazy coincidence!