Morphological differentiation and interesting adaptations to parasitism in sucking lice and biting lice (Insecta, Phthiraptera)

Order Phthiraptera includes parasitic insects of four suborders; two of them: Amblycera and Ischnocera are ectoparasites of birds and some mammals, Anoplura – of mammals and Rhynchophthirina of elephants and some suids. As an effect of tremendous diversity of the animal coat microhabitats of different hosts, various morphological adaptations. Finally this process led to host and topical specificity development, i.e. evolution of host specific species or even some synhospital species living in different microhabitats of the same host.