Habitat destruction update

I posted on this topic nearly seven years ago. We now have an update on the risk of species extinction due to habitat loss of this well known species:

Every few years an alarm is raised; habitat loss puts this species at risk. “Pubic grooming has led to a severe depletion of crab louse populations… an environmental disaster in the making for this species,” said one entomologist (who also happens to work for a company that specializes in ectoparasite control).

Will the noble pubic louse Pthirus pubis, which once grazed the rolling plains of our crotches in great herds, be driven into extinction? Do we need to erect habitat reserves for crab lice conservation in New Jersey? Will these insects that “swing from hair to hair” in our undergrowth someday only be known from medieval kings and mummies?

The short and curly answer is no, even with new evidence in a research paper that links hair removal to declining crab lice infection rates:

Pubic Lice: An Endangered Species? Dholakia, S., et al. Sexually Transmitted Diseases: 2014. Volume 41.  Issue 6: 388-391.

It’s good to know the general pubic is doing their job of habitat conservation to save this species for the enjoyment of our children and grandchildren.

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4 thoughts on “Habitat destruction update

  1. Ah, another pubic servicing announcement. Hope they make the critters go extinct.
    Think of crabs! If it saves just two lice!
    (random thought – same root word as licentious? If not, it should be.)

  2. So if you shave, you might get busted under the Endangered Species Act for habitat destruction? Who’ll know? Will we need random inspections? What is Congress going to do about this? Inquiring minds want to know.

    • I’m sure some enterprising young men will rise to the occasion and investigate the issue of disappearing Brazilian undergrowth, in spite of the demand for topical wood.

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