Editing Amblycera (section)

== Feeding method ==
Amblycera feed almost entirely on birds. The lice depend on a combination of skin, hair, feathers and blood for food and nutrients.<ref name=":4">{{Cite journal |last1=Zhang |first1=Yanjie |last2=Rasnitsyn |first2=Alexandr P. |last3=Zhang |first3=Weiwei |last4=Song |first4=Fan |last5=Shih |first5=Chungkun |last6=Ren |first6=Dong |last7=Wang |first7=Yongjie |last8=Li |first8=Hu |last9=Gao |first9=Taiping |date=2024-02-26 |title=Stem chewing lice on Cretaceous feathers preserved in amber |url=https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(24)00027-7?_returnURL=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0960982224000277?showall=true |journal=Current Biology |language=English |volume=34 |issue=4 |pages=916–922.e1 |doi=10.1016/j.cub.2024.01.027 |issn=0960-9822 |pmid=38320551|bibcode=2024CBio...34E.916Z }}</ref> They use their mandibles in a horizontal scraping fashion to separate the skin from the bird so that it can be consumed. They also use their claws to grasp onto the feathers of the host in order to prevent the bird from shaking the lice off.<ref name=":4" /> They feed on both living and dead cells, as opposed to the closely related [[Ischnocera|ischnoceran]] lice that feeds exclusively on dead material.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=J. Weaver |first1=Haylee |last2=Rózsa |first2=Lajos |title=CONCEPTS IN ANIMAL PARASITOLOGY |url=https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1096&context=parasittext |access-date=May 11, 2025 |website=digitalcommons.unl.edu}}</ref> While most ampblyceran lice use mandibles to feed, species in the genus ''Trochiloecete'' use two sharp [[Stylet (zoology)|stylets]] to pierce the skin and consume blood from nearby [[Blood vessel|blood vessels]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Amblycera |url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803095407300 |access-date=2025-05-11 |website=Oxford Reference |language=en }}</ref> Amblycera lice tend to parasitize one host before quickly moving onto another one, without staying nearby one that is dead.<ref name=":8" />