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Costa Rican bug
Hi Bugman
Congratulations for your excellent website! Don’t know if you can also help me with some Central American bug… There is a bug in Costa Rica whose droppings are extremely acid, causing severe skin irritations: the spot first turns red, then blue the next day and then all the skin far around the spot gets full of blisters and after a week or so, peels off. They call it "chinche" here. I happened to make a picture of such a guy months before I made my own bad experiences with it. Do you have any idea what class of bug it is, or where could I find information?
Kind regards
Pia

Hi Pia,
Your bug is a True Bug from the Family Coreidae, The Big Legged Bugs or Leaf Footed Bugs. They are plant pests. In California we have a Western Leaf-footed Bug, Leptoglossus clypealus which is called the Chincha, which means “bug” in Spanish. There are also bugs known as Chinch Bugs in the Family Lygaeidae, the Seed Bugs. Hope that helps, though we can’t give you an exact species name.

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