Pthirus

{{Short description|Genus of lice}}

{{Automatic taxobox

| image = Pthirus gorillae.jpg

| image_caption = Pthirus gorillae

| image2 = Pthirus pubis - crab louse.jpg

| image2_caption = Pthirus pubis

| display_parents = 5

| parent_authority = Ewing, 1929

| taxon = Pthirus

| authority = Leach, 1815

| type_species = Pediculus pubis{{cite journal |editor1-last=Hemming |editor1-first=Francis |title=Direction 64. Addition to the Official List of Specific Names in Zoology (a) of the specific names of nineteen species belonging to the class Insecta, each of which is the type species of a genus, the name of which was placed on the Official List of Generic Names in Zoology in the period up to the end of 1936 and (B) of the specific names of three species belonging to the same class which are currently treated as senior Subjective synonyms of the names of such species |journal=Opinions and Declarations Rendered by the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature |date=1957 |volume=1E |issue=4 |pages=66 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/34611299}}

| type_species_authority = Linnaeus, 1758

|subdivision_ranks = Species

|subdivision ={{Linked species list|

Pthirus gorillae{{!}}P. gorillae|Ewing, 1927|

Pthirus pubis{{!}}P. pubis|(Linnaeus, 1758)}}

|synonyms = * Phthirus Leach, 1817

}}

Pthirus is a genus of lice. There are only two extant species, and they are the sole known members of the family Pthiridae.{{cite book |title=The earwig's tail: a modern bestiary of multi-legged legends |first=May R. |last=Berenbaum |publisher=Harvard University Press |year=2009 |isbn=978-0-674-03540-9 |page=27 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FOlpPl_15csC&pg=PA27}} Pthirus gorillae infests gorillas,{{cite journal |first1=David L. |last1=Reed |first2=Jessica E. |last2=Light |first3=Julie M. |last3=Allen |first4=Jeremy J. |last4=Kirchman |year=2007

|title=Pair of lice lost or parasites regained: the evolutionary history of anthropoid primate lice |journal=BMC Biology |volume=5 |page=7 |doi=10.1186/1741-7007-5-7 |pmid=17343749 |pmc=1828715 |doi-access=free }} and Pthirus pubis afflicts humans, and is commonly known as the crab louse or pubic louse.{{cite book |first1=Ronald P. |last1=Rapini |first2=Jean L. |last2=Bolognia |first3=Joseph L. |last3=Jorizzo |year=2007 |title=Dermatology |publisher=Mosby |location=St. Louis, Missouri |isbn=978-1-4160-2999-1}} The two species diverged some 3.3 million years ago.{{cite journal | pmc = 2687769 | pmid=19232074 | doi=10.1186/jbiol114 | volume=8 | issue=2 | title=Apes, lice and prehistory | year=2009 | journal=J. Biol. | pages=20 | author=Weiss, RA | doi-access=free }}

Since 1958 the generic name Pthirus has been spelled with pth rather than phth, despite this being based on a misspelling of the Greek-derived phthirus.{{cite web|url=http://phthiraptera.info/content/taxonomy-human-lice|title=Taxonomy of Human Lice|website=Phthiraptera.info|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200414211109/http://phthiraptera.info/content/taxonomy-human-lice|archive-date=April 14, 2020|url-status=dead}}{{cite journal |editor1-last=Hemming |editor1-first=Francis |title=Direction 63. Completion and in certain Cases correction of entries relating to the names of genera belonging to the class Insecta made in the Official List of Generic Names in Zoology in the period up to the end of 1936 |journal=Opinions and Declarations Rendered by the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature |date=1957 |volume=1E |issue=3 |page=32 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/34611265}}