About Head Lice

Head lice are small wingless insects.

Like all insects, they have six legs, which they use to cling to the hair. Head lice only live in human hair. Creatures of comfort, they often prefer the warmest places such as behind the ears or on the neck.

Lice can be quite transparent.

This makes them difficult to detect in hair. An adult louse is 2-4 mm long: approximately the size of a sesame seed. The females are larger than males. Once they have fed on their victim's blood, lice turn brown-red.

Lice feed on human blood.

They do so four to eight times a day. They bite through the scalp and inject their saliva. In some individuals, this irritates and causes itching. Away from human hair and therefore away from blood, they can survive up to 3 days.

Nits are not lice.

Nits are the empty shells of hatched nymphs or eggs that haven't hatched. Have you found nits in your hair? This does not necessarily mean you are infested with lice, but the chances are considerable that they are about to hatch and you will be infested.