Mar 2019
Arizona Kissing Bugs
Authors:
Shujuan Li, Dawn H. Gouge, Shakunthala Nair, Alfred J. Fournier, and W. Eugene Hall
Kissing bugs are true bugs in the insect Order Hemiptera, in the Family Reduviidae. Reduviids as a family, are sometimes called assassin bugs because most members of this family are predators of other arthropods and are in fact beneficial to humans. Kissing bugs are an exception, and are blood-feeding parasites that feed on a wide variety of domestic, wild animals, and occasionally humans. Kissing bugs are also known as conenose bugs, Triatomine bugs, Mexican bed bugs, and Wallapai tigers. Kissing bugs get their name because they often bite sleeping human victims on the face. Although kissing bugs are in the same insect order as bed bugs and both feed on blood, they have different life histories.