COCHISE COUNTY — It’s the time of year to take precautions to prevent getting bitten by the creepy, little bloodsuckers known infamously as the 'kissing bug.' In southern Arizona, the most common species are Triatoma rubida, T. protracta and T.
recurva. They are out and about from mid–May through mid–July. They tend to proliferate in areas where rodent populations have set up housekeeping.
The bugs can become infected with a dastardly parasite, Trypanosoma cruzi that causes Chagas disease. As the bug feeds on blood, it can defecate and urinate at the bite site and pass the parasite on to the host. When they bite animals infected with T.
cruzi, it is passed on to to humans from the host bug, explains the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Eleven species of kissing bugs are found in the U.S.
and their home ranges may be expanding northward, possibly a consequence of climate change. At least eight of the species have been reported to harbor T. cruzi.
The disease is mainly found in Latin America, but various species of the kissing bugs have made their way into the southern states from coast to coast. T. rubida, the most common bug here in Arizona, can live both indoors and outdoors.
When indoors, they might be found in cracks and crevasses, in bedding and under couch cushions and walls. Outdoors, they can live in dark places like rodent nests or animal burrows or dog houses and kennels and chicken coops, as well as beneath porches, between rocky structures, .