Infestation by body lice

The body louse Pediculus vestimentorum is much more difficult to control that other human lice. The lice suck blood from their host once or twice daily. If they do not get food, they die in three to five days. Under favourable conditions, the female produces five eggs daily for about twenty-five days, laying them in folds and seams of clothing next to the skin, where the young hatch and develop. The time for a new generation from egg to egg is about twenty-four days. Laying aside, or washing, infected clothes aside only kills the adults; the eggs can only be killed by heating or insecticide.