Any idea of what this is? It’s a new mystery louse for the new year! This one was collected on a New Zealand white rabbit, Oryctolagus cuniculus (Liljeborg, 1873) (Lagomorpha: Leporidae) in St. Paul, Minnesota on July 8, 1964.
![Microscopic image of a louse.](https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/598/21470159264_37914ef803.jpg)
While searching for a white rabbit typically takes you to particular Jefferson Airplane song, I did learn a few things about them during my quest to learn more about this louse’s host.
![Photo of a New Zealand white rabbit lying in hay.](https://c2.staticflickr.com/8/7634/17030832127_7b014ce297.jpg)
White rabbits are as one would expect, albino. Commonly used for meat, they are also model organisms in scientific research and antibody production. As they are inexpensive models to use to study the effects of illnesses on larger mammals, they have been utilized for a variety of medical research.
Yau et al 2014 tested the ability to reconstruct the pinnae in New Zealand white rabbits via electromechanical reshaping. Other research includes examining the effects of lower lumbar fusion in these rabbits (Daubs et al 2015). Many other studies with New Zealand white rabbits focus on their osteogenesis (Henriksson et al 2011, Ravanetti et al 2015).
Do you have any idea as to what this mystery louse could be? If so, please comment below!