Subject: Blood sucking insect
Geographic location of the bug: Arizona, USA
Date: 08/12/2018
Time: 08:32 PM EDT
Your letter to the bugman: Hello, these have been in my bed twice! Both times I squished them blood came out. Found a few more in a cardboard box under the bed. We don’t have welts like bed bugs, not even bits. Have a cat that likes it under the bed and she may have bits, I’m not sure. They were fast callers l crawlers too, but disintegrate when squished.
How you want your letter signed: Eager Entomologist in Training
Dear Eager Entomologist in Training,
We have bad news for you. These are Blood-Sucking Conenose Bug nymphs or Kissing Bug nymphs in the genus Triatoma, and they have been in the news frequently lately because they are vectors for the spreading of Chagas Disease. Here is a BugGuide image for comparison. According to BugGuide: “Bite can cause severe allergic reaction in humans. Bite and defecation into bite can transmit Chagas disease, caused by the protozoan Trypanosoma cruzi. The North American species can carry the parasite but they do not normally defecate at the site of bite, and thus rarely transmit the disease (Vetter 2001). Rare vector-borne cases of Chagas occur in the so. US (CDC 2013).” The fact that you have captured so many nymphs in your home likely means an adult female Blood-Sucking Conenose Bug of reproductive age is also present.
Dear Daniel,
Holy crud!!! I had a feeling it was those but didn’t want to believe it. About this reproductive female…. what the heck do I do to get her and these gone!?!?
Dear (we hope still) Eager Entomologist in Training,
We do not provide extermination advice, but in this case, considering your infestation, you might want to seek professional assistance. Let any contractors you contact know that you know exactly what you have so they treat the situation appropriately.
Thank you so much! Isn’t there someone i should be contacting about this finding? I’ve read somewhere they track instances of these bugs and collect specimens. And my passion for insects couldn’t be crushed by this. I’m wiser and nonetheless curious!
You can start with the Arizona Department of Health Services.
Thank you! You rock!!
I don’t know in the US, but here in Brazil is the recommendation is always to collect them alive, so they can check in they’re infected with Triatomines or not.
Thanks for that Cesar.