Vinchuca

Vinchuca

Triatoma protracta
Scale 4 Diat: carnivore , Hierachy 3

DARWIN DECK BETA | 6 POINTS

• Triatoma protracta has a MOVE of 2.  It also can feed (sucks blood) from creatures of larger SCALE.

• Chiloe to Callao

Warm, Hot

Graphic by David Ng
Triatoma protracta (commonly called Western Conenose, vinchuca, Mexican bedbugs or Kissing Bug) is an assassin bug (family Reduviidae) of the order Hemiptera. A 2 cm, brown-black nocturnal insect found in forests, it is common in the southwestern USA.[1] This particular species lives in association, and feeds almost exclusively on wood rats of the genus Neotoma. While this species carries the parasite that can cause Chagas disease,[1] it rarely infects humans as defecation […] read more

Triatoma protracta (commonly called Western Conenose, vinchuca, Mexican bedbugs or Kissing Bug) is an assassin bug (family Reduviidae) of the order Hemiptera. A 2 cm, brown-black nocturnal insect found in forests, it is common in the southwestern USA.[1]

This particular species lives in association, and feeds almost exclusively on wood rats of the genus Neotoma. While this species carries the parasite that can cause Chagas disease,[1] it rarely infects humans as defecation is delayed 20–30 minutes after feeding, in contrast to the immediate defecation behavior displayed by the Latin American species. The Western Conenose is still dangerous as its bite is painless, and its saliva can cause allergic reactions up to and including anaphylactic shock.

This bug can closely associate with humans, documented in LA’s Griffith Park Boys’ Camp in 1965.

Conenose Bug Management Guidelines–UC IPM: In California these bugs are most prevalent in the foothill areas surrounding the Central Valley and in foothills and desert areas of southern California.

(From Wikipedia, October 2013)