Lice 911

What is Lice and What's a Nit

• Nits (the eggs of the head louse) are small yellowish-white, oval-shaped eggs that are glued to the side of a hair shaft at an angle.
• Nits must be laid by live lice. You cannot catch nits.
• Once laid, it takes 7-10 days for a nit to hatch, another 7-10 days for the female to mature and begin laying her own eggs.
• Head lice are clear in color when hatched, and then quickly develop a reddish-brown color after feeding.
• Head lice are about the size of sesame seeds.
• Head lice have six legs equipped with claws to grasp the hair.
• Head lice are crawling insects. They cannot, hop, jump or fly.
• Head lice do not live on pets.
• Head lice are small, wingless insects which feed on human blood. They need human blood in order to survive.
• Head lice live for approximately 30 days on a host and a female louse may lay up too 100 nits (eggs).
• Head lice cannot live without a human host. In most cases, a head louse will not survive for more than 24-36 hours off of its host.