Can You Help...? |
We need your help to collect louse specimens for our research.
We are always interested in receiving fresh louse specimens regardless of their host. Indeed, many of our most important specimens are received in this way. The only prerequisite is that you must be able to confidently identify the host and that the specimens are sent to us in at least 70% ethanol (preferably 95%). If you contact us in advance we will happily provide collecting kits with ethanol and pay any postage costs. In return we can identify any lice you send us (at least to generic level) and promise copious acknowledgement of your assistance in all publications that result from this research. I am also interested in making collaborative links with anyone (particularly field biologists working on mammals, especially Primates) in a position to collect material.
Some of our main target hosts are listed below. However, the broad scope of our work means that we are interested in lice from almost all hosts, especially sucking lice from mammals:
All mammal groups (mainly sucking lice) Struthionidae & Rheidae (Ostriches & Rheas) Old & New World Primates Tinamiformes (Tinamou of South America) Selected human head and body lice worldwide Psittaciformes (parrots and allies) Domesticated farm animals worldwide Anseriformes (screamers, geese, ducks & swans) Elephants & wart hogs Ciconiidae (storks) If you think you can help, drop me a line, or for more details on identifying, collecting and sending lice, click below for one of our collecting guides and other louse resources:
- A rough guide to lice...
- Louse Image Gallery
- Louse Taxonomy - descriptions of the four louse suborders
- Other mammal and bird ectoparasites
- Collecting lice from mammals
- Collecting lice from birds
Material should be sent to:
Dr. V. Smith
Illinois Natural History Survey
607 East Peabody Drive
Champaign, IL
61820-6970
USAThanks for your help!
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