Lice Facts

• The life cycle of a louse is about one month.
• A nit is an egg.
• Nits take about 7–10 days to hatch.
• A nit can hatch off the head (for example, in a hairbrush or on a bed sheet), but the conditions must be warm enough and a host must be found quickly, or the bug will die.
• After a nit hatches this baby bug is called a nymph.
• The clear shell of the egg is still attached to the hair shaft after the bug emerges.
• The egg is stuck onto the hair shaft by a type of glue. Happyheads Bye-Bye Lice Shampoo™ helps loosen this glue.
• Nits, or eggs, vary in color, depending on the color of the hair. Lighter nits are found in lighter hair, darker nits in darker hair.
• About 10% of nits never hatch.

• Nothing kills nits except for dry heat. Blow-drying hair and flat ironing can kill nits.
• Once hatched, the bug molts three times in its life cycle, shedding its hard shell to grow.
• The nymph needs about 7–10 days before it is mature enough to lay eggs.
• Eggs are laid only by the female louse.
• Mature lice lay 3–10 eggs per day.
• The body of the female louse is more round than the male louse.
• Lice excrete in the hair. This looks like little dark sand granules and is sometimes visible in very blond hair.
• Lice only lay eggs in head hair. It is possible to have eggs in eyebrows and eyelashes, but is not common.
• Body and pubic lice are different types of lice, different than head lice.
• Head lice are human parasites and cannot live on animals.
• Off the head, lice can only survive 48 hours without a host.
• Lice do not intentionally come off the head, unless they are transferring to another head. Therefore, there are not lice all over the house.
• 99.0% of lice are spread by head-to-head contact.
• Lice do not jump or fly and are wingless. They have 6 legs.
• They are nearly transparent in color, but turn a coffee brown color after they feed (draw blood).
• Lice bite every few hours to feed. They are transparent in color, but right after they feed, they are a darker brown color due to the blood they intake.
• The bites cause itchiness and irritate the skin. They are often at the nape and behind the ears.
• 6–20 million people in the U.S. are thought to contract lice each year.
• Lice remains have been discovered on Egyptian mummies.
• Lice prefer clean hair because they can navigate without difficulty and easily attach their eggs.

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