Preying upon insects, these large and interesting desert dwellers are beneficial rather than harmful to mankind, and deserve protection.
Unfortunately, many become the innocent victims of the wholly unwarranted fear in which they are held because of the fantastic stories regarding their purported poisonous characteristics.
Conenose bug
(Kissing bug, Bellows bug, Walpai tiger, Cross bug, others)
(Triatoma sp.)
Although not limited to the deserts of the Southwest, conenose bugs, of which there are several species, are commonly associated with subtropical climates.
Certain South American species of the family Reduviidae are disease carrying and there is evidence the conenoses in San Diego County, California, are infected with a disease-producing flagellate. Lack of large bug populations in close contact with man and ineffective transmission habits protect man in the Southwest from disease contacts. However, the site of the bug’s bite becomes inflamed, and swelling may spread over an area up to a foot in diameter.
In general appearance, conenose bugs resemble assassin and squash bugs, with protruding eyes at the base of a cone-shaped snout and are about the same size. Some species are considerably smaller, while others attain a length of an inch or more.
Habitat of conenose bugs
Since conenose bugs subsist upon animal blood which they suck from the capillaries by inserting the stylets of the proboscis, they seek locations where there is a source of blood. These include livestock barns, poultry houses, and human habitations.
Conenose bugs—Triatoma protracta
Adult male (rounded abdomen); Adult female (pointed abdomen) (Photo courtesy of Dr. Sherwin F. Wood)