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Beetle identification
Hi bugman,
I was recently hiking with my fiancee and a few friends outside Todos Santos, Mexico (about an hour and a half north of Cabo San Lucas on the Baja Peninsula, Pacific side). At the top of our hike, my fiancee and I came across this fascinating beetle (image attached). The beetle consistently tracked and followed us, apparently attempting to either copulate with our appendages or hitch a ride. It would approach, I would step over it, and it would turn around and meander back toward me! At one point it climbed up my fiancee’s leg when we weren’t looking, and didn’t seem to do anything else. Later, we walked about 50′ away, and about ten minutes later it came strolling over and tried to climb up one of our friend’s legs. He brushed the beetle away, and it went and sat in the shadow of a rock. After we photographed the beetle, I watched it for a little bit to see what was up. I have a feeling it was simply trying to get to the highest point possible – we were on top of a desert hill, and it would climb to the top of a rock and lift itself a few millimeters, then turn and move around some more. I’ve never seen behavior like this from a beetle. I’ve perused your site now and the closest I found was the bee assassin beetle here , with a follow-up from BugGuide.net here . However, clearly these are similar but not the same. The assassin has a curved back beneath the wings, as well as the orange near the head; both these attributes are missing from my beetle. Do you have any idea what it could be? Thanks!!
Michael

Hi Michael,
Your specimen is definitely an Assassin Bug and not a beetle. We are concerned that it might be a Blood Sucking Conenose Bug or Kissing Bug, a known carrier of Chagas Disease. We will check with Eric Eaton to verify our suspicion.

Daniel,
Thanks for your rapid response! Please let me know as soon as possible if you can accurately identify it as a conenose or kissing bug. If it’s a potential carrier of Chagas’, I definitely would like my fiancee to get a blood test as the bug was on her for an unknown amount of time. Thanks!
Michael

Hi, Daniel:
Yes, it is a blood-sucking conenose, but the species Dipetalogaster maxima most likely. They are much larger than the familiar Triatoma species found north of the border. Poor thing must have been starving if it was chasing those folks in broad daylight. Seriously, though, they are indeed a potential vector of Chagas disease, so it is best to avoid them. Travelers to Latin America are advised to sleep under mosquito netting, and to inspect their beds thoroughly before entering them, especially in rural or remote areas.
Eric

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3. Blood Sucking Conenose Bug from Mexico (March 13, 2008)
4. Eastern Blood Sucking ConeNose Bug (July 14, 2007)
5. Eastern Blood-Sucking Conenose Bug (October 5, 2008)