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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » True Bugs, Cicadas, Hoppers, Aphids and Allies (Hemiptera) » True Bugs (Heteroptera) » Cimicomorpha » Assassin Bugs (Reduviidae) » Kissing Bugs (Triatominae)

Subfamily Triatominae - Kissing Bugs

Classification · Other Common Names · Synonyms and other taxonomic changes · Explanation of Names · Numbers · Size · Range · Habitat · Food · Remarks · Print References · Works Cited
Blood Sucking bug ID help needed! - Triatoma Dark True Bug - Triatoma protracta Kissing Bug - Triatoma sanguisuga Triatoma sanguisuga? - Triatoma sanguisuga Triatoma rubida - female Female, Triatoma rubida? - Triatoma rubida - female Female, Triatoma protracta? - Triatoma protracta - female Triatoma sanguisuga
Classification
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Hemiptera (True Bugs, Cicadas, Hoppers, Aphids and Allies)
Suborder Heteroptera (True Bugs)
Infraorder Cimicomorpha
Family Reduviidae (Assassin Bugs)
Subfamily Triatominae (Kissing Bugs)
Other Common Names
Conenoses; barbeiro, bicudo, chupão (Brazil); vinchuca, chipo, pito, chinchorro, chirimacho, iquipito, chupon (in various Spanish-speaking Latin American countries); Bush Chinch (Belize)(1)
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
revised in (2)
Explanation of Names
Triatominae Jeannel 1919
Numbers
11 spp. in 2 genera in our area, ~120 spp. in 14 genera and 5 tribes total
Size
5-45 mm (most spp. 20-28 mm)(1), in our area, 13-33 mm
Range
mostly New World (s. Argentina to central US) + 12 spp. in s. Asia and a single pantropical sp. (Triatoma rubrofasciata) in Africa(1)
Habitat
Sheltered habitats used by the hosts(1) ie caves, logs, nests, human habitations, etc.
Food
Blood of various tetrapods(1)
Has a symbiotic relationship with Arsenophonus triatominarum, a proteobacteria, that assist in providing the insect with sufficient amino acids.(3)
Remarks
12 spp. in 3 genera (Triatoma, Rhodnius, Panstrongylus) are considered major vectors of Trypanosoma cruzi (the causative agent of Chagas Disease), but none of those occur in our area(1)
Many specimens of Triatoma have been positive for Trypanosoma cruzi in our area, mostly in southwest and Texas. In se US (AL GA FL LA TN) positive T. sanguisuga are very sporadic. In the west and Texas, T. gerstaeckeri, T. protracta, T. recurva, and T. rubida are the main vectors.
Print References
(4)
Works Cited
1.Medical and Veterinary Entomology
Gary Mullen, Lance Durden. 2002. Academic Press.
2.Revision of the Triatominae (Hemiptera, Reduviidae), and their significance as vectors of Chagas' disease
H. Lent & P. Wygodzinsky. 1979. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, 163: 1-520.
3.The Insects : Structure and Function
R. F. Chapman. 1998. Cambridge University Press.
4.Trypanosoma cruzi and Chagas' Disease in the United States
Bern C., Kjos S., Yabsley M., Montgomery S.P. 2011. Clin. microbiol. rev. 24: 655-681.
Contributed by v belov on 3 April, 2010 - 9:36pm
Additional contributions by drswanny, Marci Hess, Arturo Santos
Last updated 24 September, 2023 - 9:51am

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