Subject: Is this a kissing bug?
Geographic location of the bug: Missoula, MT
Date: 08/04/2018
Time: 04:15 AM EDT
Your letter to the bugman: Found this indoors today, it landed on my face and it smelled. Thought it could be a stink bug, but the red marking on its body remind me of a kissing bug. Do kissing bugs smell? I don’t think it’s a west conifer seed bug since the head looks round, and I don’t think the legs were barbed but i’m not sure. I crushed it before getting a good luck at it.
How you want your letter signed: Jen
Dear Jen,
This is not a Kissing Bug, but it is a problem nonetheless. It is an invasive Elm Seed Bug, Arocatus melanocephalus, and according to BugGuide: “Native to, and widespread in S. & C. Europe, established and spreading in w. NA” and “Can emit unpleasant odor, especially when crushed.” BugGuide also notes: “Doesn’t pose a threat to trees, but may show up indoors in huge numbers” and “Invades homes during summer, may stay through the winter.”
