Assassin bug

Assassin bugs are true bugs in the order Hemiptera. They are often brightly coloured and have piercing mouthparts which they use to feed on the bodily fluids of other animals.

Many species feed on the blood of vertebrates and, in Central and South America, some species commonly bite the faces of sleeping people - earning them the name of Kissing bugs. These bugs are also capable of spreading blood-borne diseases through their feeding.

A photograph of the assassin bug Triatoma infestans which is the most important vector for Chagas disease.
Photograph by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, United States Federal Government.

Other names for (or types of) Assassin bug include:

• Cone-nosed bugs
• Kissing bugs
• Reduviidae

Related terms

• Chagas disease
• Hemiptera
• Heteroptera
• Rostrum
• Zoonosis

Related pages on this web site

• Heteroptera

See other words beginning with A