The classification of lice has had a long and tortuous history, as competing perspectives and philosophies seek a taxonomy which best reflects the knowledge of the day. It is therefore useful to examine the process chronologically, for while it is certainly not a linear progression, there is a building on past analyses and interpretations. Ferris characterized the history of the classification of lice as... "Their taxonomic history represents a series of stumbling attempts to assign them to some generally acceptable position in the scheme of classification of insects and to devise a system of classification within the group itself. Even yet there is no absolute agreement in regard to either of these aspects of their classification." (1951:58) These sentiments are true today, though there has been modest progress in the classification of some groups.

1758

Linnaeus "Systema Naturae", Tenth Edition, is the foundation for our present classification of plants and animals. Within this edition lice, together with an assortment of "similar" forms, are placed in the genus Pediculus which is placed in the insect order Aptera. This order included mites, fleas, and silverfish.

1775

Fabricius, "Systema Entomologiae" essentially followed the classification of Linnaeus, though changed the ordinal name to Antliata. This order is reviewed in his 1805 "Systema Antliatorum".

1806

Latreille established the order Parasita for two groups of lice. The sucking lice were placed in the genus Pediculus and the chewing lice in the genus Ricinus.

1806

Lamarck, "Histoire Naturalle des Animaux san Vertebres" placed Pediculus and Ricinus is the order Arachnides Antennistes, which also included centipedes, myriopods and silverfish.

1815

Leach, "Edinburgh Encyclopaedia" placed the lice in his newly created order Anoplura. This is the first formal use of the order Anoplura. The sucking lice were divided into two genera; Pediculus and Haematopinus, with the chewing lice in a single genus; Nirmus.

1817

Leach, "Zoological Miscellany" created the family Pediculidae for the two genera of sucking lice, and the family Nirmidae for the chewing lice.

1818

Nitzsch, "Darstellung der Familien und Gattungen der Thierinsekten" placed the family Pediculidae in the Hemiptera Epizoica and Nirmidae in Orthroptera Epizoica.

1825

Latreille, "Families naturelles du regne animal" divided his order Parasita into two groups; Siphunculata for the sucking lice and Mandibulata for the biting lice.

1826

Kirby and Spence, "Introduction to Entomology" which is generally considered the first general text in entomology, returned to Linnaeus' order Aptera, and included lice, myriopods, arachnids, and silverfish.

1838

Burmeister, "Handbuch der Entomologie" which is in five volumes (1835-1840), placed the sucking lice in the order Rhynchota and the biting lice in the order Mallophaga. This is the first formal use of the order Mallophaga.

1842

Denny, "Monographia Anoplurorum Britanniae" employed Leach's order Anoplura for all lice, and used Burmeister's order Rhynchota for a suborder containing the sucking lice, and Mallophaga as a suborder for the chewing lice. Denny also called these two suborders Haustellata and Mandibulata respectively.

1874

Giebel, "Insect Epizoa" placed the sucking lice in the order Hemiptera, family Pediculina, and called the group Hemiptera Epizoa.

1880

Piaget, "Les Pediculines" did not address ordinal names, but placed all sucking lice in the family Pediculidae, and the chewing lice in two families; Liotheidae and Philopteridae, the latter being a family name first used by Burmeister, 1838.

1896

Haeckel, "Systematische Phylogenie" places both sucking and chewing lice in the Order Phthiraptera. This is the first formal use of this ordinal name.

1908

Kellogg in Wytsmann's "Genera Insectorum" used the order Mallophaga for chewing lice which represented 26 genera and 1254 species. Dalle Torre's "Genera Insectorum" placed the sucking lice in the order Anoplura.

1910

Mjöberg, "Studien über Mallophagen und Anopluren" placed all lice in the order Siphunculata with the chewing lice in the order Mallophaga, and the sucking lice in the Anoplura.

1916

Harrison's catalog of "The Genera and Species of Mallophaga" followed the higher classification of Mjöberg.

1919

Ferris, "Contributions Toward a Monograph of the Sucking Lice" placed the sucking lice in the order Anoplura. He considered the "Elephant Louse", to be a chewing louse and placed it in Mallophaga. In 1931 he created the suborder Rhyncophthirina within Mallophaga for this louse. (See Rhyncophthirina link for a discussion of the spelling of this name.)

1936

Fahrenholz, "Zeitschrift für Parasitenkunde" placed Rhyncophthirina in the Anoplura, thus had two suborders Inrostrata for the sucking lice and Rhynchophthirina for the "Elephant Louse".

1939

Weber, "Biologisches Zentralblatt" employed Haeckel's Phthiraptera under which he placed three suborders; Anoplura, Mallophaga, and Rhynchophthirina. In 1946 he changed his mind and placed them all in the order Anoplura.

1949

Hopkins, "Host associations of the lice of mammals." placed all lice in the order Phthiraptera.

1960

Königsmann, "Zur Phylogenie der Parametabola under besonderer Berücksichtigung der Phthiraptera." proposed the order Phthiraptera with four suborders; Amblycera, Ischnocera, Rhynchophthirina and Anoplura.

1978

Kim and Ludwig strongly support the separation of sucking lice and chewing lice into to separate orders; Anoplura and Mallophaga respectively. This view is also held by Emerson and Carriker.

Today, it would appear that all those working with chewing lice accept the morphological and molecular evidence of the relationships presented in the accompanying chart, and consider lice as belonging to a single order Phthiraptera with four suborders. A consensus is also emerging on the definitions for families within these suborders. However, the genera within these families, especially the Philopteridae remain contentious.

Clay, T. and Hopkins, G. H. E. 1950. The early literature on Mallophaga. Part I, 1758-1762. Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History) Entomology 1:221-271 PDF

Clay, T. and Hopkins, G. H. E. 1951. The early literature on Mallophaga. Part II, 1763-1775. Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History) Entomology 2:1-36 PDF

Clay, T. and Hopkins, G. H. E. 1954. The early literature on Mallophaga. Part III, 1776-1786. Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History) Entomology 3:221-266 PDF

Clay, T. and Hopkins, G. H. E. 1960. The early literature on Mallophaga. Part IV, 1787-1818. Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History) Entomology 9:1-61 PDF

Fahrenholz, H. 1936. Zur Systematik der Anopluren. Zeitschrift für Parasitenkunde. 9:50-57 PDF

Ferris, G. F. 1951. The taxonomic status of the sucking lice: historical review. in The Sucking Lice. Memoirs of the Pacific Coast Entomological Society. 1:58-61 PDF

Lakshminarayana, K. V. 1976. Nomenclatural changes in Phthiraptera -- some suggestions. Angew. Parasitol. 17(3): 160-167 PDF