Pthirus

Pthirus is a genus of lice. There are only two extant species, and they are the sole known members of the family Pthiridae. Pthirus gorillae infests gorillas, and Pthirus pubis afflicts humans, and is commonly known as the crab louse or pubic louse. The two species diverged some 3.3 million years ago.

Pthirus
Pthirus gorillae
Pthirus pubis
Scientific classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Psocodea
Suborder: Troctomorpha
Infraorder: Nanopsocetae
Parvorder: Phthiraptera
Superfamily: Anoplura
Family: Pthiridae
Ewing, 1929
Genus: Pthirus
Leach, 1815
Type species
Pediculus pubis
Species
Synonyms
  • Phthirus Leach, 1817

Since 1958 the generic name Pthirus has been spelled with pth rather than phth, despite this being based on a misspelling of the Greek-derived phthirus.

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