The spiny rat louse, Polyplax spinulosa, as a parasite of the rice rat, Oryzomys palustris, in North America.
The spiny rat louse, Polyplax spinulosa, was collected, as adults and embryonated ova from the rice rat, Oryzomys palustris, a cricetid rodent, in Davidson Co., Tennessee. This sucking louse is typically parasitic on domestic rats, which are murid rodents. Because most sucking lice are normally host specific, such cross-familial host infestation is noteworthy.
D000818:Animals; D003411:Arvicolinae / Q000469:parasitology*; D008003:Phthiraptera; D013714:Tennessee