It May Not Be A Bedbug Or A Spider Biting You
Most people believe that when they wake with bites on their body that it is from a bedbug or a spider. There is another insect that could be the causeof the bites. It is called the kissing bug. It is also known as the conenosebug, wheel bug, Mexican bedbug, masked hunter, assassin bug, or triatomine. The scientific name is triatoma.
There are more than 130 species of triatominaes. Most are found in America but a few species can be found in Australia, Asia, and Africa.
The kissing bug feeds on vertebrate blood and lives with a vertebrate. Somecan be found in burrows with armadillos and rodents. The majority associate them with opossums, raccoons, wood rats, birds, bats, and sloths. About 5%do live in human dwellings or surrounding areas.
Theseareas are usually around domestic animals. They are known as the domestic species. A kissing bug does not have to be brought in by a pet. Many have found their way into a home on firewood.
The kissing bug is known to stay in during the day time and search for blood at night. They prefer the cooler temperatures. They usually will be attracted to a sleeping person. There are many things that attract the kissing bug to a person.
Odors, such as carbon dioxide from breath, ammonia, carbonoxylic acids from the skin, exocrine glands, and hair, are what attract them the most. Outside lights attract the adult kissing bug to houses.
The kissing bug does not bite but sucks the blood from a vertebrate. They do not have any mouth parts to bite with. They are not known to climb on a person but to find exposed skin and lie next to it. 1
They touch the skin only with their mouths and suck from eight to fifteen minutes. They do not bite through a person’s clothing. The kissing bug does let off an odor similar to a stink bug when disturbed.
The bites from a kissing bug are usually to be found in a group and range from two to fifteen. The bites will be found in a certain order. They start with the hand, then on to the arms, feet, head, and body trunk. They have been known to bite the eyelids and ears of a human.
Some species, mostly found in South America, are known to bite on a human’s lips while they are sleeping. This is how the name, kissing bug, came into being. The South American species is known to carry ChagasDisease.This is a life threatening illness caused by the parasites which lives in the digestive tract of the kissing bug.
An adult kissing bug is approximately one-half to an inch long. They have flattened but broad bodies. They have elongated, cone shaped heads with thin taped beaks. They have a pair of antennae with five or six segments. Their coloring is dark brown to black. They may have markings on the abdomen.
Owen Jones,the author of this article writes on several subjects, but is currently involved with AedesMosquito devices. If you would like to know more, pleasego to our website at Indoor Bug Zapper