Pthirus pubis (Linnaeus)

Reeves, Will K., Durden, Lance A. & Wrenn, William J., 2004, Ectoparasitic chiggers (Acari: Trombiculidae, Leeuwenhoekiidae), lice (Phthiraptera), and Hemiptera (Cimicidae and Reduviidae) from South Carolina, U. S. A., Zootaxa 647, pp. 1-20 : 13

Pthirus pubis (Linnaeus)

Fairfield Co, Winnsboro, 10 June 1993, ex Homo sapiens ; Lexington Co., East Columbia, date unknown, ex bathroom; Pickens Co., Clemson, 11 April 1975, 10 October 1979, ex H. sapiens ; Sumter Co., Sumter, 13 August 1993, ex H. sapiens ; York Co., York, 25 August 1993, ex H. sapiens .

The crab louse, P. pubis , is a host­specific parasite of humans. This louse appears to prefer the pubic region and body of hirsute individuals including areas with thick body hairs such as eyebrows, eyelashes, facial hair, and chest hair. Unlike the human body louse, this species is not known to transmit any pathogens. Pthirus pubis is underreported because it is perceived as a sexually transmitted parasite. Crab lice from Peruvian mummies indicate that P. pubis infested humans in the New World prior to the arrival of Europeans (Rick et al. 2002).