Louse

Louse is a name applied to several different invertebrates that are either external parasite (harmful to the host) or commensals (not harmful). Included are certain crustaceans, such as the parasitic fish louse. Argulus Most commonly, however, the name refers to two groups of flattened, wingless insects living or warm-blooded animals. They are usually regarded as separate ofders; Mallophaga, or chewing lice, and Anophlura, or sucking lice.

Chewing lice are found on mammals but mostly commonly rodents. The crab louse and the head and body louse are sucking lice and the only lice that parasitize humans. Both lice glue their eggs or nits, to hair, but body the body louse may also fasten its eggs to clothing. The immature lice look like tiny adults.

In addition to the uncomfortable itching caused by its bites, the body louse may transmit the pathogens that cause typhus, replacing fever, or trench fever. The spread of these diseases, and of lice themselves, is closely associated with crowded, unsanitary conditions.


A body louse is a small, wingless insect that lives on humans, sucking its host’s blood. A louse egg, or nit is attached to the host hair.

Leopard

The leopard, Panthera pardus, is one of the largest members of the cat family, Felidae. A large male may weigh more than 91 kg (200 lb), may stand 70 cm (28 in) high at the shoulder, and may be 1.5 m (nearly 5 ft) long, plus a 90-cm (35 in) tail. Leopards occupy a great diversity of habitats, including dry grass-lands, scrubland, mountains, and jungles. They have the greatest geographic distribution of any wild cat, being found over most of Africa south of the Sahara and from the Middle East and India north into central Asia and south into the East Indies. The leopard’s color varies from a pale yellowish gray to a yellowish red, with whitish underparts. Spots are present over the entire body, but on the back and sides they are formed into circles, or rosettes. Black leopards, or panthers, occur in the same litter with yellowish leopards.

Leopards are chiefly nocturnal and solitary, but a male and female commonly hunt as a pair during and for a time after the mating season. Usually two to four young are born after a gestation period of 90 to 105 days. Intensive hunting of leopards for their skins has eliminated or seriously reduced a number of subspecies and geographical races.

The snow leopard, or ounce, Uncia uncia, is similar in size and general appearance to the leopard. Its coat, however, has a dense, wooly underfur and a long, thick outer coat. It is generally light yellowish gray to cream colored, with black to grayish rosettes on the upper parts of the body. Snow leopards are found in the highlands of central Asia from the Altai Mountains into the Himalayas. They inhibit rocky grasslands above the tree line. Breeding occurs in late winter, and usually two to four young are born after gestation period of about 98 days. The snow leopard has become quite scarce mainly because of overhunting for its beautiful fur.

The clouded leopard, Neofelis nebulosa, weighs up to 23 kg (50 lb) and may be 80 cm (32 in) high at the shoulder and 1 m (40 in) long, plus a 90 cm (35 in) tail. It is grayish or yellowish to brownish yellow in color, with black spots and dashes on the head, legs, and tail, and large, black-bordered, “cloudlike” bloches on its sides. Clouded leopards inhabit forest from India to Taiwan south into Borneo. Gestation is about 90 days, with apparently two young to a litter. The clouded leopard continues to be hunted, despite its rarity.

Musk Ox

The musk-ox, Ovibus moschatus, in the family Bovidae, live on open tundra to well vegetated terrain in northern Canada and Greenland and has been introduced into Alaska. It is short legged but massively built, reaching 1.5 m (5 ft) high at the shoulder and more than 400 kg (900 lb) in weight. The large head bears broad, down curving horns. Musk oxen are protected from the cold by an ankle length dark brown outer coat covering a light brown, soft, dense undercoat. The coat’s musky odor gives the musk-ox its name. Musk oxen live in herds of 20 to 100. When under attack they form a circle, horn outward, with the young on the inside.

The muskox is a stocky, long-haired animal with a slight shoulder hump and a very short tail. Both sexes have horns, but the horns of bulls are larger and heavier than those of cows. The horns of bulls develop large bases which nearly span the entire forehead. The pelage consists of a long, coarse, outer layer and a short, fine underhair. Coloration of the Greenland muskox, the race found in Alaska, is generally dark brown with creamy-colored hair on the “saddle,” forehead, and legs. Muskoxen have cloven hooves, all four of which are the same size.

The male musk ox weight more than the female and has longer horns. The extremely long outer coat and short, dense inner coat provide the musk ox with excellent insulation against the cold temperatures of the far north.