They have 5-segmented antennae and small, slender, clawed forelegs.

[3] Lice in this family are parasites of many types of small mammals, including spiny rats, cavies, rabbits, hares, chinchillas, bushbabies, lemurs, squirrels, shrews, pouched rats, treeshrews, hyraxes, and Oriental dormice.

[2] Members of this family are quite variable based on its current description and molecular data suggest that the family is paraphyletic.

It requires study and a revision to make the description of the family as a whole more accurate.

[2] Genera include:[4] Media related to Polyplacidae at Wikimedia Commons