Triatoma protracta
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| Triatoma protracta Uhler, 1894 |
Triatoma protracta (commonly called Western Conenose, vinchuca, Mexican bedbugs or Kissing Bug) is an assassin bug (family Reduviidae) of the order Hemiptera. A 2 cm, brown-black nocturnal insect found in forests. Common in the southwestern USA and in South America.
The insect feeds on mammalian blood - piercing the lips, eyelids or ears of a sleeping victim. The problem is that the feeding process can cause anaphylactic shock or even Chagas disease as the insect is the vector for the trypanosomes, which could be rubbed in the wound or a mucous membrane and thus infect the victim with the disease.
