What are head lice and nits?
The head louse is a small wingless blood sucking insect 1.5 – 3 mm long and is a brownish-white colour in appearance. It lives and breeds on the human head. It does not live on any other host. The adult louse may lay up to 130 eggs (nits) during a life cycle of around 34 days. The eggs are oval and yellowish-white and about 0.8 mm in size (approx. size of a sesame seed). They are firmly attached to the hair shaft at the base near the scalp by a cement-like substance. The nits hatch in about 7-10 days. They can reproduce about 2 weeks after hatching.
