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Head Lice Nits
- Nit-picking is the key to head lice control -
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Summary: Head and pubic lice attach their eggs, or nits, to hairs. Removal of these nits, called "nit-picking", is the single most important part of any lice control program.
Jack DeAngelis, PhD
OSU Ext. Entomologist (ret.)
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What are lice nits?
 The term "nit" is just another name for egg. Head lice and pubic lice attach their eggs, or nits, to head or body hair (see photo right) near the skin surface. Nits are glued securely to hair shafts and can be very difficult to remove.
Nits of head lice and pubic lice need the warmth and high humidy that is found near human skin to develop properly. If nits are removed from this warm, moist environment they die.
Effective lice control begins with thorough nit removal. Nits can be either physically removed or crushed. Lice combs do a good job of crushing nits in place or if lice combing is combined with one of the nit-loosening lotions you can actually remove nits without pulling hair out! See Selecting The Best Lice Comb for more information.
misspellings: headlice, headlouse
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Louse nit (egg) glued to a hair shaft. This is actually a pubic louse nit but head lice nits look very similar. Body lice nits are found in clothing, not attached to hair.
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When young lice hatch they leave behind the empty egg shell still attached the hair shaft. This empty shell can remain attached for weeks, or months so as the hair grows the empty shell moves further and further from the scalp surface.
When searching for nits, any nits found further than about a 1/4" away from the skin may have already hatched or are dead. However, some recent research suggests that in warm climates lice will occasionally lay viable eggs further out on the hair shaft.
Color may be a better way to distinguish empty or dead nits from live ones. Empty egg shells are white whereas live nits with lice inside are darker in color.
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Dead nits can fool "no-nit" screeners
Dead nits or empty shells, dandruff, and similar debris are sources of many false positives when children are screened for lice. If the screener is inexperienced any of this debris can look like live nits and trigger a positive "find". This is one reason that we do not advocate no-nit policies for schools (see What Are School-Based "No-Nit" Policies and Do They Work?). In other words, a child that has neither live lice, nor any live nits, may still be excluded from school if the screener mistakenly believes they have found "nits" in the child's hair. A better policy is to simply alert parents of a possible infestation and send home information about lice and lice control.
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Mission: To provide accurate, up-to-date and unbiased information for solving common insect and mite problems around your home, business and landscape using least-toxic methods.
Jack DeAngelis, Ph.D.
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