What is the difference between head lice and nits?

What is the difference between head lice and nits?

Marilyn Sherlock (Trichologist) gives expert video advice on: How do you treat head lice? and more...

Head lice and nits are really one and the same thing. A head louse is the actual insect - the parasite. The nit is the egg that the head louse lays, that is attached with a gluey substance to the hair shaft, generally very close to the scalp. That is the difference - one is an egg and one is the actual insect.