Although it is rare to find kissing bugs in the U.S., they are not impossible to see around homes and businesses.
Most people in the U.S. don't need to worry about kissing bugs. They don't usually infest houses here, though an occasional bug might get inside. If you've noticed them in your home or live in an area with Chagas disease, you can take steps to keep them away: Seal cracks and gaps in your home to keep bugs out.
They are typically found in the southern United States, Mexico, Central America, and South America (as far south as southern Argentina). The map below details triatomine occurrence by U.S. state. Triatomines are mostly active at night and feed on the blood of mammals (including humans), birds, and reptiles.
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. They suggest you place a container on top of the kissing bug for 24 hours, and then seal the bug inside the container.
The kissing bug has many names, including chinches, barbeiros, pitos, vinchucas, and chipos. There are around 130 species within the subfamily that feed on vertebrate blood.
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.
Only adult kissing bugs have wings and can fly. All kissing bugs feed on blood throughout their life. Kissing bugs can feed on people, dogs, and wild animals. They feed many times over their lives.
Chagas disease is an emerging disease in Australia. GPs are best placed to offer opportunistic Chagas disease screening to those at risk from endemic regions as they are likely to be the first point of contact.
Only citronella oil was able to stop all probing and feeding by T. rubida. Citronella oil appears to be a promising potential repellent to prevent sleeping people from being bitten by kissing bugs.
If you aren't familiar with masked hunter bugs, there's a good reason why these insects can sometimes mistaken for kissing bugs—they're technically kissing cousins. Both kissing bugs and masked hunter bugs belong to the assassin bug family (Family Reduviidae).
One subfamily of assassin bugs feed on vertebrate blood, and some spread the debilitating and sometimes fatal chagas disease. But these 'kissing bugs' do not occur in Australia, and the species found here are minor pests at best.
Their bites are gentle and painless, and usually occur while the victim is asleep. They are generally unable to bite through clothing. On humans, blood meals are sometimes taken from the tender areas of the face (hence the name “kissing bug”).
Kissing bugs feed on humans as well as wild and domestic animals and pets. They can live between one to two years from when they hatch out of the egg, through all five of the immature nymph stages, until they become adults and eventually die. Kissing bugs take many blood meals from various hosts throughout their lives.
If you find a bug in your home that you think might be a kissing bug, don't squish it and place it in the trash! The CDC recommends placing the bug inside a container or sealed plastic bag that can be frozen.
Chagas disease has an acute and a chronic phase. If untreated, infection is lifelong. Acute Chagas disease occurs immediately after infection, and can last up to a few weeks or months.
Kissing bugs can enter your home through: Crawl spaces. Exposed cracks. Gaps around patio doors.
Kissing bugs are also able to sing, although the purpose of stridulating or sound production is unknown.
Bed bugs and kissing bugs are distant cousins but share many striking similarities. Both insects hide in household cracks and crevices waiting for nightfall and the opportunity to feed on sleeping hosts. They are from the same order of insects (Hemiptera) and both only feed on blood.
In Australia there were 116,430 persons born in endemic regions in 2011, a 46% increase since 1997, not including adoptees, visitors or second-generation immigrants. Epidemiological models suggest that 2000–3000 persons could be infected but 95% of cases remain undiagnosed.
In the Americas, Chagas disease show an annual incidence of 30,000 new cases average, 12,000 deaths per year, and approximately 9,000 newborns become infected during gestation.
Scientists have found that about 50% of kissing bugs are infected with the Chagas parasite. Kissing bugs are a 'vector' because they can carry a parasite that can make people and animal sick. The parasite is Trypanosoma cruzi, and it causes Chagas disease.
Some common pests that bite at night include mosquitoes, bed bugs, scabies mites, and chiggers. Consider installing screens on your bedroom windows and regularly cleaning your home to reduce the likelihood of these nocturnal, itch-inducing visits.
Kissing bugs are most commonly encountered during their dispersal season, May through July, as adult kissing bugs fly towards homes attracted by lighting (Wood 1950, Ekkens 1981). Some species actively seek out humans and domestic animals to feed on.