title: What's eating you? ant-induced alopecia (pheidole).
abstract: Ant-induced alopecia is a rare cause of acute, localized, nonscarring hair loss. It is most commonly caused by Pheidole pallidula ants, which can be found worldwide but are most common in Iran. The resulting alopecia can have many morphologic patterns (eg, patch, linear, nondiscrete) and thus ant-induced alopecia should be considered in the differential diagnosis for patients from endemic areas who present with new-onset localized hair loss. The condition is self-limited; however, patients should be evaluated for other more common causes of alopecia, especially in the absence of a convincing history.
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, Jahrom University of Medical Sciences, Iran.
authors.forename: Amir
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Feily
authors.affiliation: New York Institute of Technology College of Osteopathic Medicine, Old Westbury, New York, USA.
authors.forename: Karan
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Lal
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology and Dermatologic Surgery, Medical University of South Carolina, Charlottesville, USA.
authors.forename: Dirk M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Elston
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000505:Alopecia / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology; D000818:Animals; D001000:Ants; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012535:Scalp / Q000473:pathology*