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Species Triatoma sanguisuga - Eastern Blood-sucking Conenose
Classification Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Hemiptera (True Bugs, Cicadas, Hoppers, Aphids and Allies)
Suborder Heteroptera (True Bugs)
Family Reduviidae (Assassin Bugs)
Genus Triatoma (Bloodsucking Conenoses)
Species sanguisuga (Eastern Blood-sucking Conenose)
Other Common Names Big Bed Bug, Mexican Bed Bug Identification 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. Range New Hampshire west to Ontario, south to Florida, Texas (1)Habitat Natural habitat is nests of small mammals. Sometimes invades houses. Season Reported June-December for North Carolina by Brimley (4). Food Blood of mammals, especially Eastern Wood Rat, Neotoma floridana. Also feeds on bed bugs and other insects. Feeds at night. Life Cycle After mating and finding a host, the adults no longer fly (3). Female scatters many oval, whitish eggs after blood meal, usually May-September. Nymphs have eight instars, usually taking two years to mature, so entire life-cycle is three years (2) (3). Remarks Sometimes bites humans, and the bite may be severe, causing an allergic reaction. See guide page for genus. Print References Slater, p. 130, fig. 242, T. sanguisuga (1)
Milne, plate 120, p. 474, T. sanguisuga (2)
Swan and Papp, p. 121, fig. 106, T. sanguisuga (3)
Borror and White (1st ed.), plate 3, p. 122 (5)
Drees, p. 53, plate 53 Triatoma species (6)
Lent, (1979). Revision of the Triatominae (Hemiptera, Reduviidae), and their significance as vectors of Chagas' disease. Bulletin of the AMNH ; v. 163, article 3. Available as a 158 megabyte PDF file, linked here. Works Cited | 1. | How to Know the True Bugs
By Slater, James A., and Baranowski, Richard M. | |
| 3. | The Common Insects of North America
By Lester A. Swan, Charles S. Papp | |
| 5. | A Field Guide to Insects
By Richard E. White, Donald J. Borror, Roger Tory Peterson |  |
| 6. | A Field Guide to Common Texas Insects
By Bastiaan M. Drees, John A. Jackman |  |
Contributed by Cotinis on 24 June, 2006 - 10:11am |
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