I'm pretty clear on how they spread, their life cycles, how they feed and the hundreds of eggs that an Adult Lice (Head louse) can reproduce. I've pretty much become a Lice expert since I have had to deal with them and the children in my family. What I am most curious in knowing is how did the first lice get here? How did they evolve in so many if they can't live more than 48 hours without a host to feed on. It takes one to start it, but what if the first one was not a female and even if it was then how? This has been on the back of my mind for ages, I really hope someone can clear the water, Many thanks!!
208468
Really-think about a roach-they are tolerant to drought, water, heat, and radiation. They are annoying and will live after a nuclear disaster. The louse-is a more fragile creature and there are different types. The worst pests survive forever no matter how many or their relatives are killed.
118058
"Random Non-sensical Stuff"\n\nYes, this is what I need! I need a category where I can ask if it snows in Honduras will the spotted meal worm be able to approach puberty in time. \n\nOr......these three which will now and forever remain near and dear to my heart:\n\nIf you were a freshly harvested eggplant would you feel guilty that most of your nutrition was erased by the fact you were breaded and deep fried and turned into eggplant parm?\n\nDo erasers silently scream when you traumatically scrape their head across the paper leaving behind tiny bits of their scalps?\n\nIf you were born with more than the normal number of toes would you hide your malady in shame or would you try to exploit it on the sideshow circuit?\n\n\n\nI shall now campaign for "Random Non-sensical Stuff!"
177113
the tapeworm doesnt really have a gestation period. it just releases a segment of itself filled with eggs. then pass through the animals systemand are later consumed by other animals.also found this sight on squids it might help
265960
...and some insects visit only specific animals. It's known as coevolution - they grew up together over millions of years to the point where some plants can't survive without certain species of insects, and vice versa; and some insects can live only on certain animals (for example, lice).\n\nCoevolution may involve pollination or, as a previously answered, the battle for plants to deter insect feeding by manufacturing secondary metabolites. In this case, insects evolve biochemical pathways to detoxify the feeding deterrents. These interactions eventually become exquisitely complex and, in many cases, exclusive to the species involved. There's alot on the web. Search for coevolution, mutualism, parsitism, symbiosis.
225403
pbustudent:\nnice try!\nEver heard of blind cave fish? They start with eyes and lose them soon after?  Is that a perfect design?\n\nbenefical mutations:\nhttp://www.gate.net/~rwms/EvoMutations.html\nIn humans:\nhttp://www.gate.net/~rwms/EvoHumBenMutations.html\n\nWaiting for your apology...
93145
omg- this is such a complex thing. i just took a parasite class and we talked about nothing but worms and amoebas. worms normally enter through digestion and then burrow their heads between villi. then it grows and matures and deposits eggs through feces. some worms use proglottids, some drop eggs directly into intestines. the eggs are then released out of the anus and ready for another host or vector. some worms end up going though the lamina propria in intestines and getting into hepatic duct and getting into the blood stream. worms can then get into the heart or even encyst in muscle and crippling the muscle if enough get in there. the trichino worm gets into arm muscles and enough render the arm useless.
12842
My little sisters went through a terrible bout with head lice, and the only thing that worked, short of shaving their heads, was applying mayonnaise before bed, then leaving it in over night (they wore shower caps to bed).  This finally did the trick.
2557
Tough call, even if the question was about all humans not just all living things.\nZen monks would place rings on their staffs in order than they could jangle and allow small lifeforms to get out of their way so as not to be stepped on.\nTheir are no rings small enough to warn microbes and I am not sure that we should avoid killing some bacteria what might spoil our food or make our children sick.  (Do you wash your hands?)\nAnd what about those things which are not exactly alive?  Like viruses?\nWe do not kill every bug which enters our homes.  Some people are fanatical about this and others live with spiders and ants crawling all over the place.  Most of us would kill lifeforms we believe to be a threat to us or our families.  Some might even capture and release some species (including mice and larger lifeforms).\nSome things to consider include:  Are you affected by commercials which try to make you believe that you need to give someone money to buy a product which will kill some lifeforms to make you healthier or happier?  What happens to the lifeforms that become resistant?  Do you really want polio and smallpox living among humans?  How about 'skeeter and the west Nile virus?  or Maleria?\nLife is not simple.  Not for bugs.  Not for humans.\nAt least humans can think about what they are doing before they make a choice.
127839
It's impossible to identify the worm from that description.  There are a number of options.\n\nHowever, my best guess is that it is a horsehair worm.  Horsehair worms are rather fascinating creatures, possibly responsible for inspiring the film "Alien".  Adult worms live in water where they lay their eggs.  The eggs hatch into larvae, who make their way to an appropriate place to be eaten!  Once an insect (usually a grasshopper or a relative, such as cockroaches) eats them, they crawl out of it's digestive system and live in it's abdomen, growing every larger.  When they become adults, they secrete a chemical, causing the insect to get very thirsty.  It rushes to the nearest body of water, where the horsehair worm tears it's way out of the insects stomach and into the water, where it looks for another horsehair worm so it can start the whole process over again.
648252
they are very hard to dislodge for one thing, and they can move surprisingly fast back to the scalp. i lived in central Florida for several years with children in public schools, & they were a big problem! my 3rd grader had them 19 times in one school year! we removed the carpet to terazzo floors, put plastic covers on all mattresses & pillows, no stuffed animals or barbies, bed clothes were put into the dryer when we left, & the girls hair was moussed, braided & sprayed, & they would still come home with more. i once put a live adult louse in a capful of Rid & watched it swim to the side & crawl out!
412870
That doesn't sound right, if they're talking about critters that have sexual intercourse at all (as opposed to procreating other ways).\n\nI would think that most females have, as males aren't all that choosy about where they donate their sperm.\n\nToo bad you don't say where you got this. I mean, besides "the net" -- oh, THERE, that tiny place.\n\n;-)\n\nUnless it's more a comment on life expectancy, saying that most critters die before they have a chance to, well, you know.\n\nSo, where'd you come across this tidbit, what animals are included in the statistic, and why would this be?\n\n(I'll check back in hopes you respond.)\n\nEdit: You may (if you're interested enough) want to troll around newscientist.com and similar sites. New Scientist is the UK's version of Scientific American -- the site has science news, and search facility (though you have to pay to access everything, they do have a lot available for non-subscribers).\n\nI may give it a go next time I'm there.\n\nTrouble is, coming from a non-expert (that is, a psychologist), I wonder if this is one of those non-facts that gets picked up and repeated and is completely wrong.\n\nThough, if you include all animals, including insects, then maybe. Relatively few bees and ants, for example, have sex, and they'd account for a big proportion of "all animals."\n\nIn which case it's completely irrelevant to a discussion of human sexuality.
610731
How High ?\nI used to stay in 5th floor and mosquitos still can suck your blood.\nI'm then move to 12rd floor. Amazingly, there was no more mosquitos problems.\n\nHow long do they live ?\nAverage 1 week for the female mosquitos ( those suck our blood ). \nOf course, for some species, they can live up to 1 month.\n\nDue to mutation, their eggs can stay alive up to several months without water (some species).
154366
caterpillars don't reproduce.\n\ncaterpillars is part of a stage of becoming a butterfly. Really, they are kids, and when they become a cocoon, they are teenagers. When they emerge out of their cocoon, they are like adults.\n\nIn other words, caterpillars are not ready to reproduce, or they aren't so developed yet.\n\nYet the only way the caterpillar population increases is if more butterflies make more eggs that will soon become caterpillars.
577340
Two potentially unresolved questions in evolutionary biology are how and why did sex evolve (the big unresolved issue), and why only two as opposed to more sexes is stable. theory allegedly predicts three is more stable and better than two for example.\n\nYour text book anwsers, like recombination to break the linkage between "good" and "bad" genes and to avoid parasites (red queen hypothesis) explain why sex, ONCE it has evolved, is stable and selected for, BUT not how or why it evolved.\n\nPerhaps you should consider work by Lynn Marguilas et al. on the symbiont theory. Although now largely accepted that organelles like the mitochondria and chloroplast are degenearte symbionts, and less accepted that the nucleus is too, extrapolation of this theory would allow (account for) for the evolution of diploidy and reductive meisois (and thus sexual reproduction) by having two organisms (one aerobic the other anerobic) merging and seperating according to the oxygen levels (oxygen was at first a highly toxic compound to life untill aerobic metabolism evolved). \n\nBy the way hemaphrodites are still sexual, even selfing ones.\n\nAnd additionaly please note and remember for future that sexual discrimination, like homosexual discrimination, and so on, is neither a prerequisite nor a product of sexual reproduction.
526603
First dont think there is anything dirty about you. When I was twenty my toddler daughter got it on her ankle and I was mortified,.  I thought only dirty people got them. The only thing dirty about it is that is where she got them. The doctor told me they lived in the dirt outside. And yes they are highly contagious.\nIf a toddler or infant gets them you should only apply the Lindane to the affected areas with a cotton ball and then after the prescribed time wash it off. This is to prevent them from absorbing too much of the medication through their skin.  In older children and adults you need to apply it everywhere and then wash off a instructed.\nWhen my youngest got them, this time from a friend whose entire family had them, he gave them to the entire family before I even knew he had it. This time my oldest son was a teenager and when he was told to apply and then shower he didn't put it on his genitals and guess what!?  Yup, we all got them again.\nThey definately like to live in warm, dark and moist spaces, but if not treated right away they will spread and they do this by burrowing under the skin.; As disgusting as it is scabies are a live mite that is living under the skin and they can travel. So the most common places are the finger webs, under breasts, elbow crease, groin and so on, and the most common formation is kind of lines of bumps that are formed as they burrow along.\nBy the way, yes you need to wash all the linens and the clothes they wore but you do not need to treat the whole house with the sprays and stuff. These things are for lice not for scabies.  Hope this helps
468948
WOW, wayyy too detailed of a question.... not gonna answer each part of this... "how it is possible?"  I mean, how broad is that? are you looking for actual hormone and neurotransmitter names and fuctions?  too broad..\n\nbut to answer... some fish, most plants are born XXY, platyhelminthes (roundworms)  and some cestodes, specific nematodes can change their sex... I believe the Ascaris Lumbricoides is my "favorite" sex change organism... it is a hermaphrodite and impregnates itself and lays eggs by itself.. without ever seeing another Ascaris.  (human parasite)
455926
We have treated head lice at our house successfully with over the counter head lice shampoo.  If your doctor won't prescribe a lotion, maybe there is something else he can suggest instead.  Anything used to treat head lice contains pesticides and you don't want to use any of them for extended periods of time.  Treat everyone in the family with the shampoo on the same day.  Does your daughter have stuffed animals or throw pillows on her bed?  If so, wash those that can be machine washed and put those that can't in a large garbage bag, seal tight and leave for 2 weeks.  Also, be sure to vacuum your car, her car seat, and any other cloth seat where any of your heads touch.  If she likes to lay on the floor, keep that vacuum as well.  When washing clothing items, use as hot of water as you can.  Wash towels after each use in hot water as well.  Get rid of all your hair brushes and combs and buy new ones.  Vacuum your mattresses, wash or replace your bed pillows.  Don't forget to wash her blankets and her bedspread.  Washing everything in hot water and than machine drying should kill all the lice on those items.  When we had a lice problem, we took one whole day, washed everyone's hair in the lice shampoo then went through the house and vacuumed and washed everything that we even suspicioned could have lice on it.  The next week, we did the very same thing.  It was very time consuming, but it took care of the lice.  Perhpas your daughter is not being reinfested at home, but at a friend's home or at school.  Tell her not to share anything - combs, brushes, hats, towels.  Does she have her own locker for her coat at school or do the coats hang next to each other on hooks?  If she has to hang it on a hook, see if she can hang it on the end or perhaps she'll be allowed to keep it some where else during the day\n\nThe lice eggs, called nits, take about 1 week to hatch.  Adult lice can live up to 30 days on a person's head.  They can also live off of a host for 1-2 days.