Answer to Case 611

 Answer toParasite Case of the Week 611: Female crab louse,Pthirus pubis, with an egg. She ' s a mom to be!Florida Fan pointed out that we would be able to tell that this was a female louse, even if she wasn ' t gravid, due to the somewhat flattened, indented posterior (vs. the rounded posterior of the male).Dr. Heaton was also kind enough to provide a beautiful egg (nit) from this case. It shows the classic features of aP. pubisnit, with a raised operculum:This is in comparison to the flattened operculum ofPediculus humanuseggs:Be sure to read the comments for some fun and helpful information, including an explanation from Kosta in why this louse ' s genus name is spelledPthirusinstead ofPhthirus. 
Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites - Category: Parasitology Source Type: blogs