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11-10-11, 14:11 #1Member
- Join Date
- Jun 2011
What's the difference between nits and lice?
Sorry if I sound a bit dim but have always wondered if nits and lice are the same thing or not?
11-10-11, 14:12 #2Member
- Join Date
- Mar 2009
They are the same thing. Head Lice is the official term for nits!
11-10-11, 14:48 #3
Actually they're different things -
Nits are the eggs deposited by a female head louse which are glued firmly to the base of the hair shaft, close to the scalp where it is humid enough for them to develop properly. After seven days, an immature head louse (nymph) will emerge from the egg. After shedding their skin (moulting) three times, head lice nymphs become sexually mature adult head lice.
Last edited by Poppy S(9); 11-10-11 at 14:50.
12-10-11, 18:39 #4
You're not dim at all. It would be a good thing if we all knew the difference between nits and lice, so let's start at the beginning.
Eggs are eggs are eggs. They are laid by the female, one egg at the base of a hair as close to the scalp as she can get it, and in fact it is usually so well camafluaged that you won't spot it and you wouldn't be able to get a comb between it and the scalp. They are also very very small, a newly hatched louse is around 1mm in length. The egg takes an average of 7 days to hatch from being laid or though it can depend on the circumstances re humidity etc. Once the egg has hatched the egg case is left behind, still stuck to the hair and this is now known as a "nit". It will remain on the hair for as long as the hair is on the head all the time growing further and further away from the scalp. Its purpose is to distract you from looking for the live insects, the lice. It can only be removed physically with your fingers or using a nit comb. They are useful in another way though as you can tell when the infection started by how far down the hiar shaft the furthest out nit is. Hair grows at about 2cms per month so nits which are around 7 cms away from the scalp were laid approx. 3 months previously.
The insects are about 1mm when they hatch out. They grow by shedding their skins and must do this 3 times before reaching adulthood. They have 6 legs each with a claw at the end to crasp hair. They do not fly, swim, or jump and pass from one person to another when two heads touch for long enough for them to walk between the hairs. They are probably not aware that they're doing this. They don't have a sense of smell which is why so called repellents don't work but they do have a sensitivity to temperature.
Hope this helps. When someone has nits the question I ask is " Do you have live insects or just eggs cases" as the cases are an indication of a previous infection, one which has been treated a while ago or which died out on its own, and this does sometimes happen.
Hope this helps