Eastern Blood-sucking Conenose - Triatoma sanguisuga, Woodend Sanctuary, Chevy Chase, Maryland

Description:

Description: English: Eastern Blood-sucking Conenose - Triatoma sanguisuga, Woodend Sanctuary, Chevy Chase, Maryland (Montgomery County, 8/5/2012). I thought I had seen most of the assassin bugs that live in this area but, while out on a Moth field trip from ANS, I saw a large (almost 1 inch long) nocturnal species. The Eastern Blood-sucking Conenose is also known as the Mexican Bed Bug or Kissing Bug for its habit of biting sleeping humans by the mouth. It feeds on mammal's blood and has been known to invade houses. Although it apparently does not do this here in the mid-Atlantic, it is a known vector of Chagas disease, spread when the insect defecates while feeding. Eek. Date: 5 August 2012, 23:24:28. Source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/52450054@N04/7724479902/. Author: Judy Gallagher.