Talk:Pubic louse

"(removed pro-evolution rhetoric)". Is such creationist censorship acceptable? And what is the creationist view on the origins of pubic lice? Would they maintain that Adam and Eve (and members of Noah's family) had pubic lice?

S.


 * Furthermore, the change doesn't seem to make sense in the terms stated. Ed changed "As the name implies, pubic lice are specialized to live in the human pubic hair" to "As the name implies, pubic lice most commonly live in the human pubic hair". I would expect creationists to be enthused about the idea of specialization as implying purposed creation, so it hardly sounds "pro-evolution". The only real issue here, though, is whether the lice are in fact specialized (which is to say, have features which are particularly amenable to) living out their lives in pubic hair as opposed to other hairy portions of the human (or other species') anatomy. --Brion

I don't see anything particularly evolutionistic about "specialized". It sounds more creationistic to me. As to what pubic lice were doing before the Fall, I haven't a clue. -phma

Yes, the change is nonsense. "...are specialized to..." is a simple observable fact of nature. If Ed wants to argue about how they got that way, he's free to, but changing facts is not acceptable. --LDC


 * Perhaps I misunderstood what "are specialized" means. I'm happy to have my edit reverted. --Ed Poor


 * Pubic lice can live in other hairy areas of humans' bodies; for instance they are sometimes found in the eyebrows of pre-pubescent children (often, but not always, a sign of sexual abuse). --KQ

What does "about this size" refer to? -phma


 * that's a colloquialism for "approximately the size of." --KQ

Should we mention classic public toilet graffiti on pubic lice? Eg: "please don't throw toothpicks in the toilet. The crabs can pole-vault", etc.

There are several conflicting Wikipedia statements about the length of time pubic lice live:


 * from this article: "If the louse falls off a person, it dies within 1-2 days."


 * from Crab louse: "The individual louse can survive up to a week apart from its necessary human host..."


 * from this article: "A common misbelief is that infestation can be spread by sitting on a toilet seat. This isn't likely, since lice cannot live long away from a warm human body. Also, lice do not have feet designed to walk or hold onto smooth surfaces such as toilet seats."


 * [Life span away from their host can't be the main prevention of contagion here: surely 1-2 days (not to mention a week) is plenty long enough to move from one person to another on many toilet seats.]

--ErikStewart 12:41, 7 August 2005 (UTC)