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Today on Animal Fact Files we’re talking about kissing bugs. These insects are also known as conenose bloodsuckers. Sure, the name “kissing bug” may seem sweet, but it masks the terror these little arthropods can be. Kissing bugs are a smaller group within the larger group of insects commonly known as assassin bugs. Assassin bugs usually attack invertebrates, but kissing bugs are special, they tend to attack vertebrates - or animals with backbones - meaning animals like us.

There are around 150 classified living kissing bug species. This group is mostly found throughout the Americas, however there are a handful of species found in southern Asia and others found worldwide who are believed to have spread around via ships. Kissing bugs live where their hosts live. These places can include bird nests, rodent burrows, opossum lodges, rock piles, and, yes, even human dwellings. They need to be close to their source of food, and that’s blood.

Kissing bugs eat the blood of vertebrate animals including birds, reptiles, guinea pigs, dogs, and even people. Some kissing bug species can transmit parasites to their hosts, and this tends to be why kissing bugs are seen as bad. Kissing bugs cause Chagas disease in people which can be fatal, and while it’s believed all kissing bug species could potentially pass this disease on to humans, it’s not like they’re all carrying it. The disease is caused by a parasite which resides in the kissing bug. The parasite gets into the bug when they drink the blood from an already infected animal. It’s not the bite of the kissing bug that passes the disease, either. It’s the bug’s wastes. Only if the kissing bug’s feces or liquid secretions get into a mucous membrane, like the human eye, or if the waste gets into a wound on the skin, can the parasite get into a human. So that’s how this works. It’s not like the bugs are actively trying to spread badness, they just happen to do so when they kiss people.

Kissing bugs may take their meals at night because they take time to draw out a full meal. Diurnal hosts that sleep during the night are less likely to move while the kissing bug spends up to an hour consuming a full meal. Adult kissing bugs may increase to three times in size while eating, and nymphs may be up to tens times their original size! After eating these bugs look like ripe berries and move sluggishly. In order to get away without getting caught, it’s much easier to take blood from a sleeping host. And, unlike mosquitos, both the females and the males draw blood. In fact, they need to eat enough so they can move through their life stages.

Kissing bug females lay 100-600 eggs in their lifetimes. They’ll produce small batches of ten to twenty eggs between each meal. Typically, kissing bug adults feed about once a week, but they can go months without eating if necessary. The males and females look similar, both sporting generally dark bodies with yellow or red highlights. Kissing bug eggs hatch 10 to 40 days after they’re laid depending on the species and surrounding temperature. They’ll emerge as nymphs and look like the adults sans wings. About once per month, the nymphs will seek out a meal and, if they are successful in collecting it, they’ll molt. Usually after about five molts, they’ll become adults. This whole process may take a few months to more than a year, and as adults they may live at least another year.

For more facts on kissing bugs check out the links in the description. Thank you to Lenora for today’s request! Give a thumbs up if you learned something new today, and thank you for watching Animal Fact Files.