Dreamcatcher Alpacas
Alpaca health · Parasites

Lice in Alpacas

Updated 2026-10-02By the Dreamcatcher Alpacas editorial team6 peer-reviewed references
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Book a vet visit soon

Not usually an emergency, but it needs a diagnosis and a plan.

Small insects living in the fleece that cause itching, fleece damage and, with sucking lice, anemia in young animals.

Category
Parasites
Urgency
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Signs & symptoms

  • Rubbing, biting at fleece, restlessness
  • Patchy, matted or broken fleece
  • Visible lice or nits when the fleece is parted along the back, neck and flanks
  • Pale gums in heavy sucking-lice infestations

Related symptom guides: Pale Gums or Eyelids (Anemia), Fleece Loss & Itching, Dull, Faded or Brittle Fleece.

What causes it?

Alpacas host chewing lice (Bovicola breviceps) and sucking lice (Microthoracius species). Lice spend their entire life on the animal and spread by contact.

Risk factors

  • Winter months and long fleece
  • New herd members
  • Animals in poor condition

How vets diagnose it

Part the fleece in several places in good light and look with a magnifier.

Treatment

Your vet will recommend a product effective against chewing and/or sucking lice; treatment is usually repeated to kill newly hatched lice. Treat the whole herd.

Prevention

  • Check fleece when buying animals and at shearing
  • Shearing itself removes many lice
  • Quarantine and treat newcomers

Background

Louse is the common name for any member of the infraorder Phthiraptera, which contains nearly 5,000 species of wingless parasitic insects. Phthiraptera was previously recognized as an order, until a 2021 genetic study determined that they are a highly modified lineage of the order Psocodea, whose members are commonly known as booklice, barklice or barkflies.From Wikipedia — “Louse”, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Research & references

PubMed lists 11 peer-reviewed papers on this topic in camelids. The most relevant include:

  1. Llama dermatology. Rosychuk RA The Veterinary clinics of North America. Food animal practice, 1989. PubMed 2647233 · DOI · cited 12×
  2. Parasitism in llamas. Cheney JM, Allen GT The Veterinary clinics of North America. Food animal practice, 1989. PubMed 2647235 · DOI · cited 14×
  3. Identification of Microthoracius mazzai (Phthiraptera: Anoplura) as an economically important parasite of alpacas. Cicchino AC, Cobeñas ME, Muñoz Bulman G et al. Journal of medical entomology, 1998. PubMed 9835681 · DOI · cited 6×
  4. Resistance and the control of lice on humans and production animals. Levot G International journal for parasitology, 2000. PubMed 10719122 · DOI · cited 19×
  5. Prevalence of lice infestation in alpaca crias from the southern Peruvian Andes. Gomez-Puerta LA, Carrasco J, Garcia M et al. Medical and veterinary entomology, 2026. PubMed 41122982 · DOI
  6. Reports of Microthoracius mazzai (Phthiraptera: Anoplura) infestations in alpaca (Vicugna pacos) herds from Austria and Germany. Ebmer D, Czerny J, Unterköfler MS et al. Veterinary parasitology, regional studies and reports, 2025. PubMed 41354528 · DOI

Frequently asked questions

What is lice in alpacas?
Small insects living in the fleece that cause itching, fleece damage and, with sucking lice, anemia in young animals.
What are the signs of lice?
Rubbing, biting at fleece, restlessness, patchy, matted or broken fleece, visible lice or nits when the fleece is parted along the back, neck and flanks and pale gums in heavy sucking-lice infestations.
How do you prevent lice?
Check fleece when buying animals and at shearing. Shearing itself removes many lice. Quarantine and treat newcomers.
Is lice an emergency?
Book a vet visit soon. Not usually an emergency, but it needs a diagnosis and a plan.

This page is educational and does not replace advice from a veterinarian who has examined your animals. Camelid medicine uses many drugs “extra-label”, so dosing must come from your vet. In an emergency, call your vet first. Read our disclaimer · How we write and review content.