There are 17 families of lice found worldwide, consisting of about 3000 species. In Australia 14 of these families are represented with 255 species present. This order was previously divided into just 2 main groups or suborders which separate the bird lice from the mammal lice. It is now divided into 4 suborders. Follow the links below to find out more about the known families of lice. Those in bold represent the lice families present in Australia.

For lice species visit the Australian Insect Common Names - Phthiraptera section found here.