Abstract
Abstract Biodiversity and prevalence of chewing lice on local poultry (Gallus Gallus Domesticus, family Phasianidae) have been successfully determined for five selected sites around Qaser Bin Ghashir region, Libya between November 2017 andApril 2018. The total investigated chicken samples are 135, and the infected samples were found to be 94. Ticks, fleas, and mites were detected in a small quantity in addition to three different species of biting lice. The obtained results show that Asuani has the lowest amount of ectoparasites, while Suq AL-kamees samples were infected completely by 100 % prevalence of chewing lice. The calculated total average prevalence percentage (TAP, %) of all sites are ≤70%. Three species of lice were detected an identified on the local poultry, Menopon gallinae, Menacanthus stramineus, and Lipeurus caponis. The most abundant species in the study area is Menopon gallinae with prevalence percentage about ≈ 69.84%. A comparison between chewing lice around Qaser Bin Ghashir region in Libya and other countries has been carried out and it was found that (TAP, %) for Algeria > (TAP, %) for Libya > (TAP, %) for USA. Finally, the study proves that Libya contains a mild status of biodiversity. Keywords:biodiversity, prevalence, chewing lice, poultry, ectoparasites