The order of insects that includes the bloodsucking lice of mammals, with some 450 species arranged in 6 families, of which 4 contain species of medical or veterinary importance: Haematopinus, Linognathus, and Solenopotes of domestic mammals, and the human sucking lice Pediculus humanus. [G. anoplos, unarmed, + oura, tail]
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An·o·plu·ra .an-ə-'plu̇r-ə n pl an order of insects comprising the sucking lice and in some classifications the bird lice
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An·o·plu·ra (an″o-plooґrə) [Gr. anoplos unarmed + oura tail] an order of insects, the sucking lice, characterized by claws and sucking mouth parts; genera of medical or veterinary interest include Haematopinus, Linognathus, Pediculus, Phthirus, Polyplax, and Solenopotes.Medical dictionary. 2011.