Genus Triatoma - Bloodsucking Conenoses

Kissing Bugs

Big Bed Bugs

Nearctica.com lists 11 species:

Triatoma gerstaeckeri Stål 1859

Triatoma incrassata Usinger 1939

Triatoma indictiva Neiva 1912

Triatoma lenticularius Stål 1859

Triatoma neotomae Neiva 1911

Triatoma peninsularis Usinger 1940

Triatoma protractus Uhler 1894

Triatoma recurvus Stål 1868

Triatoma rubidus Uhler 1894

Triatoma rubrofasciatus De Geer 1773

Triatoma sanguisuga Leconte 1855

body length 16-21 mm

Medium-sized, boldly patterned in dark brown to black with reddish markings. Beak tapered, not curved, as in Reduvius, and bare (1) (2) (3). See Lent (1979) for key to species.

Southern North America into neotropics. T. sanguisuga and T. heidemanni are eastern.

Mammal nests, houses

All year, but may be more frequently noticed in spring and fall when dispersing and coming to lights.

Mammalian blood; also other insects?

After a meal, female scatters many oval whitish eggs. Nymphs take up to 2-3 years to become an adult, passing through eight instars.

Bite causes severe allergic reaction in many humans. Bite and defecation into bite can transmit Chagas disease, caused by Trypanosoma cruzi, a protozoan. The most notorious vector is T. infestans, found in South America. The North American species are not normally thought to transmit the disease, though they can carry the parasite. (The North American species do not normally defecate at the site of the bite, which is what actually transmits the parasite--see Kissing bugs (Triatoma) and the skin. The CDC page on Chagas' Disease says that "Rare vectorborne cases of Chagas disease have been noted in the southern United States".