Reduviidae (kissing bug)

Introduction

• blood-sucking insects with long, narrow proboscis that is folded underneath the body when not in use
• the head is cone-shaped on a narrow neck
• the abdomen is widened in the middle.
• kissing bugs are black or brown, some have orange & black markings on the abdomen
• length is 1-3 cm, they have well developed wings & are capable of flight
• bites are generally painless, but may produce a painful wheal or bullae secondary to the victim's sensitivity to the kissing bug saliva
• in Mexico, Central & South America, kissing bugs transmit Trypanosoma cruzi, the etiologic agent of Chaga's disease
• the parasite is present in the feces & is secondarily inoculated into the skin by the victim's scratching.

Images

More general terms

• hemiptera

More specific terms

• Panstrongylus
• Rhodnius
• Triatoma

Additional terms

• Trypanosoma cruzi (Chagas disease)