What happens if your bit by a kissing bug?
What happens if your bit by a kissing bug?
Kissing bugs can cause patches of bites, often around the mouth. The bites are usually painless, but they may swell and look like hives. Itching from the bites may last a week.
Is the kissing bug really dangerous?
Bites from kissing bugs are not usually serious and cause only mild pain and redness. These blood-feeding insects may target both humans and animals. Kissing bugs feed at night and their bites usually go unnoticed until the person bitten wakes up from their sleep.
Is Chagas disease in Arizona?
Chagas has been found locally in Arizona, but it is very rare. There is some evidence of spread between insects and animals in parts of the southern U.S. Chagas is spread primarily through kissing bug bites. Chagas is spread to people when the infected kissing bug poops while biting.
How do you tell if a bug is a kissing bug?
Kissing bugs may be hard to identify, as they appear similar to many other bugs in the U.S. Some key characteristics include:
- a long, oval shaped body with six legs.
- a thin, cone shaped head with long antennae.
- a light brown to black body.
- yellowish to red or tan markings on their bodies.
Are there kissing bugs in Sedona?
In Arizona, kissing bugs are most plentiful in the southern part of the state, especially in Pima County, the Arizona Department of Health Services says. Up to 50% of the kissing bugs found in Arizona are positive for the parasite that causes Chagas disease, according to ADHS.
What do kissing bugs look like?
The bugs have brown or black wings, sometimes with a ring of red, orange, or yellow stripes on the edge. They’re usually ½- to 1-inch-long, about the size of a penny. They’re also called cone-nosed bugs, bloodsuckers, cinches, and triatomine bugs. Like mosquitoes and ticks, kissing bugs need blood to live.
How do you keep kissing bugs away?
Getting rid of kissing bugs
- Seal gaps around windows and doors. Fill in any holes or cracks in walls or screens that could let kissing bugs into your house.
- Let your pets sleep inside, especially at night. Keep pets from sleeping in a bedroom.
- Clean up any piles of wood or rocks that are up against your house.
Where are the kissing bugs located?
Kissing bugs are found in warm southern states of the U.S. and in Mexico, Central America, and South America. Kissing bugs can hide in cracks and holes in beds, floors, walls, and furniture. They are most likely to be found: Near places where a pet, such as a dog or cat, spends time.
Can kissing bugs survive winter?
Their northern limit of distribution is likely determined by their intolerance to survive prolonged cold temperatures but reports from Utah and Colorado have shown these insects can be hardy. Triatoma protracta is smaller than most kissing bugs but can pack a punch!
What states have kissing bugs?
In the U.S., kissing bugs are found from Pennsylvania south to Florida, and from Florida, westward to California.
What is the life cycle of a kissing bug?
Kissing Bug Life Cycle Eggs: Large barrel-shaped eggs are laid most often in the summer. They hatch in 3-5 weeks. Nymph : The newly hatched nymphs are wingless. Most species have 5-8 nymphl stages. Adult: They develop into adults in the spring. Adults can fly and have a long life.
What is the treatment for kissing bugs?
The best way of treating Chagas Disease or Kissing Bug Disease is by killing the parasite causing the disease. This is done by antiparasitic medications namely Ragonil and Lampit.
What do you need to know about the kissing bug?
Kissing bugs are from the Triatoma family of insects, and are also known as conenose bugs, vampire bugs or assasin bugs. A fully grown insect is approximately 1 inch in length, and they have a tendency to bite humans on the lips or on the surrounding skin. They feed on the blood of birds, small mammals and sometimes humans.