What is the life cycle of a kissing bug?

Kissing bugs have a simple life cycle of three stages, egg, nymph, and adult. Nymphs look like small, wingless adults and feed on blood

feed on blood

Hematophagy (sometimes spelled haematophagy or hematophagia) is the practice by certain animals of feeding on blood (from the Greek words αἷμα haima "blood" and φαγεῖν phagein "to eat").

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Hematophagy - Wikipedia

to grow. Adult kissing bugs are good fliers and fly at night to find mates and hosts. Females lay eggs after feeding.

Do kissing bugs go away in the winter?

Kissing bugs are night feeders and suck the blood of animals, both vertebrates and invertebrates. They are most active in the summer but start appearing in late spring and stay around until fall temperatures turn cold.

How long do kissing bugs live?

The life span of kissing bugs in North America is approximately a year, perhaps longer for the large southern species, Triatoma recurva. In the temperate zone, there is usually one generation per year, whereas in Mesoamerica and parts of tropical South America, several generations of bugs may occur within a year.

What keeps kissing bugs away?

Sealing cracks and gaps around windows, walls, roofs, and doors. Removing wood, brush, and rock piles near your house. Using screens on doors and windows and repairing any holes or tears. If possible, making sure yard lights are not close to your house (lights can attract the bugs)

What time do kissing bugs come out?

Kissing bugs are nocturnal, meaning that they hide during the day and are most active at night. Kissing bugs will normally hide during the day and come out at night, biting and feeding on a person's blood while they sleep.

Chagas Disease: Life cycle of the parasite (human stages)

Do kissing bugs live in beds?

Kissing bugs can hide in cracks and holes in beds, floors, walls, and furniture. They are most likely to be found: Near places where a pet, such as a dog or cat, spends time. In areas where mice or other rodents live.

What happens if a kissing bug lands on you?

Because they tend to bite people's faces, triatomine bugs are also known as “kissing bugs”. After they bite and ingest blood, they defecate (poop) on the person. The person can become infected if T. cruzi parasites in the bug feces enter the body through mucous membranes or breaks in the skin.

Where do kissing bugs usually bite?

The bugs might hit anywhere on the body, including the face, head, arms, and feet. Kissing bugs are so named because they like to bite around the mouth or eyes. You'll often see 2-15 bite marks in one area and maybe redness and swelling.

Do kissing bugs bite at night?

They are hosts to the protozoan parasite Trypanosoma cruzi, which can cause Chagas disease in humans. Kissing bugs are bloodsuckers of warm-blooded creatures that feed at night. Klotz J.H.

Do kissing bugs fly or jump?

Conenose bugs can be found throughout most of California, especially in rural foothill and mountainous areas. Adult conenose bugs can fly and are attracted to lights on warm nights. They may enter homes under doors or through open windows.

Where do kissing bugs hide during the day?

They are nocturnal, so they will hide in dark, dry crevices during the day. Any cracks in furniture, walls, or floors are a potential home for kissing bugs, as well as under beds or near pet beds.

Should I be worried about kissing bugs?

The Bottom Line. Kissing bugs can transmit a parasite that leads to a potentially serious illness called Chagas disease. Most cases of Chagas disease occur in Latin America. Although infection directly from exposure to the kissing bug is rare in the US, it is still important to take steps to prevent kissing bug bites.

Is there a cure for the kissing bug?

It is transmitted by the triatomine bug (vector-borne), as well as orally (food-borne), through blood/blood products, mother-to-child (congenital) transmission, organ transplantation and laboratory accidents. Trypanosoma cruzi infection is curable if treatment is initiated soon after infection.

Can you smash a kissing bug?

If you find a kissing bug, the CDC recommends you do not touch or squash it. To help understand the problem and how many carry the disease, the CDC is asking for help.

What percentage of kissing bugs carry Chagas?

Up to 60% of kissing bugs carry the parasite that causes Chagas, compared with only 0.1% of mosquitos that carry dengue, an infectious disease occurring in tropical areas. Although more than half of kissing bugs carry the disease-causing parasite, Hamer said it's still difficult for a person to be infected.

What states have kissing bugs?

Most of the world's kissing bugs are in Central and South America and Mexico. They've also been found in the United States in the lower 28 states, with higher concentrations in Texas, Arizona and New Mexico. Kissing bugs have been spotted a far north as Delaware, Ohio and Pennsylvania.

What happens if a kissing bug bites a dog?

Chagas Disease in dogs is a big problem caused by a little bug. The bite from the kissing bug may be painful, but in and of itself is no big deal. Infection happens when one of these little critters is itself infected with a tiny protozoan parasite called Trypanosoma cruzi.

What do kissing bug eggs look like?

If you suspect you may have kissing bugs, check for clues like feces and eggs. Feces may be spread on walls and can be both white and dark, and usually look like stripes. Eggs can be found in wall crevices and are mostly white or pinkish.

How do you tell if a bug is a kissing bug?

Kissing bugs have some parts that make them easier to recognize. They have a 'cone-shaped' head, thin antennae, and thin legs. All of the kinds of kissing bugs found in the United States are mainly black or very dark brown, with red, orange or yellow 'stripes' around the edge of their bodies.

Do kissing bugs come out during the day?

Kissing bugs are insects that may be infected with Trypanosoma cruzi, the parasite that causes Chagas disease. People also call them cone-nose bugs or chinches. Kissing bugs feed on blood from people and other animals. Kissing bugs are mostly active during the night.

How long can you live with Chagas?

If untreated, infection is lifelong. Acute Chagas disease occurs immediately after infection, and can last up to a few weeks or months. During the acute phase, parasites may be found in the circulating blood.

What is the best temperature for kissing bugs to survive?

pallidipennis. This species is the vector with the highest epidemiological importance in the transmission of Chagas disease in Mexico [47]. It can survive in a temperature range of 18–28 °C when infected by T. cruzi, with 27–28 °C being its optimal range [48, 49].

What bugs can be mistaken for kissing bugs?

Indeed, wheel bugs and a few other true bugs continue to be misidentified on social media as kissing bugs. Two of the most common faux-kissers appearing on social media are boxelder bugs (Boisea trivittata) and western conifer seed bugs (Leptoglossus occidentalis).

What's the difference between an assassin bug and a kissing bug?

The kissing bug belongs to the Reduviidae family of insects. This family is also referred to as assassin bugs. But this family of bugs doesn't get the name “assassin” because it transmits Chagas disease (also known as kissing bug disease).

How do doctors test for Chagas?

The diagnosis of Chagas disease can be made by observation of the parasite in a blood smear by microscopic examination. A thick and thin blood smear are made and stained for visualization of parasites.