Moose louse, otherwise called deer bloodsucker, moose tick, moose fly, is a small insect that looks like a tick. She is familiar to everyone who happens to be in the forests in the second half of August - early September. It was at this time that moose lice were the most common.
The habitat of these insects is extensive. They are distributed practically throughout the European and Asian territories, in Siberia, Scandinavia, and China. They are also found in North America and in North Africa. In other words, elk lice, the photo of which is presented in the article, live everywhere - except in the far north and south, but in forest lands.
The body of a deer bloodsucker is flat, light brown in color, sometimes slightly darker, glossy, 3-4 mm long and up to 2 mm thick. The abdomen is able to stretch depending on the amount of blood drunk. Legs with thickened hips, powerful and tenacious, with sharp claws. The head is large, round with two large eyes located on the sides and three small in the center. A sharp proboscis can pierce even the rough skin of an animal. On the back - 5-6 mm wings.
Elk lice are parasites that feed only on the blood of their chosen host. Usually it is deer, roe deer, elk. They live in tall grass and on the leaves of shrubs and attack animals in dry, calm weather. There are frequent cases of attacks on people. Usually bloodsuckers choose a large victim in dark clothes (fewer insects sit on a child or a person in a light robe). An important role is played by the composition of the fabric - cold synthetics attract them much less than heat-transmitting natural materials.
Having attacked the victim and buried in the hair, elk lice drop wings, independently breaking them off at the very base, thereby cutting off the opportunity to change the owner. Insects pierce the skin and begin to suck blood, and after they are satisfied, they are looking for a mating partner. Already half a month after the start of feeding (and they feed up to 20 times a day, each time sucking up to 1.5 ml of blood), the female is ready for the production of offspring. All winter, until the beginning of March, the female gives birth to new insects. Elk lice - viviparous insects, eggs and larvae develop directly in the mother’s body, and she lays a 3-4 mm pre-pupa, which then hardens and falls to the ground. For life on the breadwinner’s body, the female is able to postpone up to 30 ancestors, from which a new generation will hatch by autumn. Insects that have not found a host die in the winter.
Elk lice, unlike ticks, are not carriers of diseases. There are no pathogens of tick-borne encephalitis.
People are not particularly afraid of these insects, often mistaking them for small flies. Although the bites of these creatures are quite painful. Most often they bite open places - the neck and lower part of the head.
Even despite the fact that these insects are not dangerous, given that they can hide in clothes for a long time, after going to the forest, it is necessary to conduct a thorough examination of the body and things that were worn. The hair must be combed with a comb with tightly spaced teeth.
