Pthirus pubis

Translingual

Etymology

The scientific name of the crab louse or pubic louse, Pthirus pubis, is spelled with pth although this is in fact a misspelling that was nevertheless fixed as the official spelling in 1950. The correct spelling would be Phthirus, from Ancient Greek φθείρ (phtheír, “louse”), from φθείρω (phtheírō, “destroy”), and this spelling is used in the scientific name Phthiraptera of the order commonly called lice, to which Pthirus pubis belongs along with more than 5,000 other species.

Proper noun

Pthirus pubis m

1. A taxonomic species within the family Pthiridae – crab louse or pubic louse, exclusively a parasite of humans.

Hypernyms

• (species): Phthiraptera - order; Anoplura - suborder; Pthiridae - family

Hyponyms

• (species): Pediculus humanus corporis (body louse), Pediculus humanus capitis (head louse) - subspecies

Coordinate terms

• (species): Pthirus gorillae

See also

• pediculosis pubis

References

• crab louse on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Pthirus pubis on Wikispecies.Wikispecies
• Pthirus pubis on Wikimedia Commons.Wikimedia Commons
• Pthirus pubis at Integrated Taxonomic Information System.
• Pthirus pubis at National Center for Biotechnology Information