Characterization of Mycobiota Present in Pediculus humanus capitis (Orden: Anoplura; Family: Pediculidae): Study from Exocuticle, Gut, and Fecal Sources

AbstractHead lice have great medical importance and appear to be the greatest nuisance, amongschool children, where their presence causes itching, different skin reactions, and secondaryinfections. The aim of this work was to characterize the fungal community associated witheggs, and external exocuticle, gut and faeces from adults of Pediculus humanus capitis DeGeer 1767 (Phthiraptera: Pediculidae) using a culture dependent approach. We identified adiverse fungal community associated with P. h. capitis across different isolation sources,including ecto and endomycobiota. These findings support the hypothesis that P. h. capitisserves as a potential reservoir of fungal diversity, both externally and internally. Thebiodiversity index indicated that eggs and female faeces were the isolation sources with themost dominant species. The highest fungal richness and diversity was observed in the eggsamples, followed by the gut and exocuticle of females, suggesting that fungal colonizationmight begin early in the louse life cycle and that eggs may provide a conducivemicroenvironment for mycobiota. The gut compartments of both sexes harbored significantfungal diversity, reflecting ingestion and internal colonization. In contrast, faeces from malelice exhibited the lowest diversity and evenness, suggesting selective survival or excretion offewer species. The principal fungal genera isolated based on abundance were: Candida,Cladosporium, Penicillium, Talaromyces and Cryptococcus. While Candida and Penicilliumwere found in eggs and adult exocuticles, guts and faeces; Cladosporium, the second mostabundant genus, was absent from faeces. Talaromyces was exclusively found in the gut andfaeces of both male and female lice. Overall, our novel findings reveal that P. h. capitisharbors a diverse fungal community, with both common environmental genera andpotentially entomopathogenic species. This underscores the need to further study lice notonly as parasites but also as microecosystems that interact with broader microbialenvironments.