Boopiidae

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Boopiidae (order Phthiraptera, suborder Amblycera) Family of chewing lice which are parasitic chiefly on Australian marsupials. Only two species are not found on marsupials: Heterodoxus spiniger has become established on dogs, presumably having transferred to dogs since humans introduced them to Australia, and is now found all around the world between latitudes 40°N and 40°S; and Therodoxus oweni is found on the cassowary. Members of the family differ from other Amblycera in possessing a seta borne on a protuberance on each side of the mesonotum, and in the fusion of the metanotum to abdominal tergum I. There are eight genera, with about 35 species.