Learning common parasites!

RE: Learning common parasites!

James Colver Cert. Ed, RVN — Fri, 20 Mar 2015 15:24:00 GMT

Some key points -

If it has 6 legs, it is a louse (lice are insects). Of these, if it has a large, broad head (e.g. trichodectes / felicola) then it is a biting louse, whereas if it has a small head (e.g. linognathus) then it's a sucking louse.

If it has 8 legs, it is a mite (mites are arachnids). Of these, if it has long legs, it is a surface dwelling mite (e.g. otodectes, cheyletiella) but if it has short stumpy legs, it is a burrowing mite (e.g. sarcoptes, demodex, notoedres).

Hope this helps, it's all about process of deduction - sorry I can't be of more help with the equine ones.

RE: Learning common parasites!

Steph Tanser — Wed, 11 Mar 2015 18:19:29 GMT

I recommend making some flash cards and keep practising; few tips:

trichodectes: dog biting louse; so tri cho dectes=tried to bite me and broad (head)=biting

Linognathus: dog sucking louse; remember lino sucks and slim (head)=sucking

Cheyletiella: Kylie has a narrow waist and is a non burrower as her high heals would get stuck!

notoedres-cat burrowing mite says 'no to dresses' as they would get them dirty when they burrow

Don't have a good mnemonic for the cat lice but if you remember the shape of the heads to see if they are biting or sucking your half way there :)

Hope this helps and is understandable - good luck

RE: Learning common parasites!

Sal the 1st — Thu, 05 Feb 2015 11:01:54 GMT

Linagnathus = Long nose (sucking louse)

Trichodectes = Teeth (biting louse)

RE: Learning common parasites!

Andrew Whitfield-Roberts — Wed, 04 Feb 2015 08:45:56 GMT

i had to use the flash card system for my parasite revision, and word association , anything to get them to stick

RE: Learning common parasites!

Louise Smith — Wed, 04 Feb 2015 08:10:36 GMT

the one way i remember walking danruff is it looks like is has a waist like kylie and its latin name is Cheyletiella which sounds like kylie when pronunced x

RE: Learning common parasites!

JaneRVN — Tue, 03 Feb 2015 20:36:05 GMT

Try memorising them to Coldplay 'Paradise' or as I sing Para, para, para sites!

RE: Learning common parasites!

Clare Ball — Tue, 03 Feb 2015 17:28:42 GMT

In college we did matching cards. So you had a picture on one side and the name on the other. You would look at the picture and have to name it latin or normal. IF you want to you could always put latin on one side and common name on the other to see if you can learn them.

Also word association worked well for us. Like Vulpis if you say it funny sounds like a whiplash so it's whipworm. Just stupid things like that. whatever helps get it into your head. x