The Rearing and Maintenance of a Laboratory Colony of the Body Louse

Abstract
The body louse (Pediculus humanus corporis Degeer) has been reared in large numbers in the laboratory at Orlando, Fla., for use in investigations of control measures for this insect. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the methods and technique used in rearing and maintaining a large colony of lice. Precise data on the biology of the body louse are not included, since this phase of the work is still in progress and will be reported later. A daily average of approximately 1,200 lice and 875 eggs, or a total of approximately 1,325,000 lice and eggs, have been used in the experiments on control measures during the period of May 1942 to October 1943. From a small number of lice that were collected from healthy individuals and were fed upon the blood of men that had shown no evidence of disease, it was possible to develop a colony of lice that were free of infection.

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