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I do not know much about bugs, because I am a computer major, I read all this material on the CDC and looked at the You tube videos. There are a lot of these bugs different subspecies and they look different at different life stages. Some are brown, some have orange, some are black. the you tube video shows the bugs.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bPzWoUfnC...
http://www.darkbanquet.com/info.php?page...
The insects that spread the disease are known by various local names, including vinchuca in Argentina, Bolivia and Paraguay, barbeiro (the barber) in Brazil, Pito in Colombia, chinche in Central America, chipo, chupança, chinchorro, and "the kissing bug"
In Brazil, the popular name of one species of assassin bug is barbeiro ("the barber") - a name that derives from the creature’s nocturnal habit of biting the face of its victims to obtain a blood meal. On a related note, a bite from an Argentinean assassin bug may well explain Charles Darwin’s lifelong ill health after his return from the voyage of the H.M.S. Beagle. An attempt to test Darwin's remains at Westminster Abbey for signs of Chagas disease was (not surprisingly) met with a refusal by the Abbey's curator.
NG
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmV6TjVNZ...
http://www.cdc.gov/parasites/chagas/gen_...
Where are triatomine bugs typically found?
Triatomine bugs (also called reduviid bugs, "kissing" bugs, assassin bugs, cone-nosed bugs, and blood suckers) can live indoors, in cracks and holes of substandard housing, or in a variety of outdoor settings including:
• Beneath porches
• Between rocky structures
• Under cement
• In rock, wood, brush piles, or beneath bark
• In rodent nests or animal burrows
• In outdoor dog houses or kennels
• In chicken coops or houses
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.
http://www.cdc.gov/parasites/chagas/gen_...
Picture of different stages of bug.
Sorry, this helps the identification but is in portuguese:
Na Ordem dos hemípteros incluem-se insetos conhecidos como “percevejos-de-cama, percevejos-de-mato, barbeiros e barata d’água. A maioria dos hemípteros nutre-se de seiva vegetal, muitos deles são predadores de outros insetos e outros poucos são hematófagos. Dentre os de importância médica estão os percevejos de cama (família Cimicidae) e os barbeiros (família Reduviidae, subfamília Triatominae). A família Reduviidae contem entomófagos (predadores de outros insetos) e hematófagos obrigatórios. Reconhece-se no geral estes insetos pelo exame da forma e relação do comprimento do aparelho bucal, denominado probóscide ou bico. Fitófagos têm probóscide reta e longa, que ultrapassa o primeiro par de pernas. Os predadores e hematófagos possuem probóscide curta que não ultrapassa o primeiro par de pernas e a extremidade distal desta repousa num sulco longitudinal do prosterno. A probóscide curta e curva tende a caracterizar um hemíptero predador e a probóscide curta e reta, um triatomíneo hematófago.
Hi P.Young,
This one you are talking about is called "Barbeiro" in Brazil, and spread de disease called "Mal de Chagas". Look here for some pictures of it:
http://www.google.com.br/search?gcx=c&am...
I think (and hope!!!) that mine and yours picture are not related to a "Barbeiro", but to a very similar bug.
Another observation: I saw this one only sucking fluids from leaves, never from other insects. Does this fit in the characteristics of a Assassin Bug ?
Thanks,
Rubens
ChunXingWong is right it is a Assassin bug!! I have 2 on my spotting s these bugs drink blood and cause a very dangerous disease called Chagas
http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/778...
Chagas disease is caused by Trypanosoma cruzi, a parasite related to the African trypanosome that causes sleeping sickness. It is spread by reduvid bugs and is one of the major health problems in South America. Due to immigration, the disease also affects people in the United States. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth......
Nope, not a shield bug. Shield bugs are peaceful herbivores but Assassin Bugs are carnivores, sucking internal fluids from their prey alive.
More like Assassin Bug, but they are from the same suborder - Heteroptera.
Spotted on Oct 9, 2011
Submitted on Oct 9, 2011
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