第 1059 號，共 1 402 號

Rhodnius kissing bug

Rhodnius prolixus

名字的由來： It is called the kissing bug because it tends to feed on the area around victims' mouths.1

需要看醫生很少致命，但被咬了需要看醫生。

毛毛蟲和其他蟲子

咬吃：肉

對人的危險: 嚴重被咬了需要看醫生。死亡案例非常罕見。

The Rhodnius kissing bug is a blood-feeding insect that feeds on the skin around people's mouths while they sleep. It lives in northern South America and Central America, and it matters because it spreads the parasite that causes Chagas disease.1

分布在

Northern South America and Central America1

北美洲, 南美洲

首頁

Its wild populations are mainly in savanna and foothills, at altitudes of 500 to 1,500 metres, and are closely linked to palm trees. In Central America it lives only in houses and other buildings near people.1

長度

2 cm (0,8 in)3

一般成體大小

最高速度

大約 0,5 km/h（0,31 mph）

在陸地上, 粗略估計

牠吃什麼？

It feeds on the blood of its hosts, which include birds, rodents, marsupials, sloths and reptiles, as well as people. It takes one large blood meal at each larval stage.1

Rhodnius kissing bug 的照片 — Rhodnius kissing bug。照片：Annika Lindqvist。 CC BY 4.0, iNaturalist.

怎麼認出牠

Feeds on blood, usually from the area around a sleeping person's mouth1
Lives in palm tree habitats in the wild1
Found in houses in Central America1

毒液力量

咬

咬的時候，毒液會從毒牙或牙齒出來。

牠對人有多危險？

對人的危險: 嚴重被咬了需要看醫生。死亡案例非常罕見。

It is the main carrier of the parasite that causes Chagas disease in northern South America, and the only carrier in Central America. The parasite is passed in the bug's faeces straight after a blood meal. People can become infected when they scratch the bite and rub the faeces into it, through a blood transfusion, or by eating food contaminated with the bug's faeces.1

如果牠咬人

被會螫人的毛毛蟲毛刺到時：用膠帶把毛黏起來，再清洗皮膚。不要搓揉。
被咬時：清洗並冷敷。如果傷者覺得不舒服或容易流血，要就醫。

一定要先打緊急電話（112、000、911）。這是一般急救指引，不是醫療建議。急救基本知識

注意安全

絕對不要碰、抓或捉弄野生動物，就算是很小的動物，就算牠看起來在睡覺或已經死了也一樣。
給牠空間。如果遇到了，保持冷靜，慢慢往後退，讓牠自己離開。
如果被牠咬了：保持冷靜，保持不動，打緊急電話（112、000、911）或趕快去醫院。記住牠的樣子，有照片會很有幫助。

牠不是想來抓你。牠用毒液來捕捉食物或保護自己，而且牠更想躲起來。更多安全知識

在世界上的哪裡？

非洲亞洲歐洲北美洲南美洲澳洲與大洋洲

牠有多大？

牠有多長？

大約跟一根迴紋針一樣長

Rhodnius kissing bug 跟「你」比起來有多大？

只是在你的瀏覽器裡做算術。什麼都不會儲存，也不會傳送到任何地方。

牠有多快？

一隻陸龜 大約 0,3 km/h (0,19 mph)

Rhodnius kissing bug 大約 0,5 km/h (0,31 mph)

一個正在走路的人 大約 5 km/h (3,1 mph)

值得知道

小知識

Its saliva contains lipocalins, which bind the chemical serotonin. This helps stop the host's blood vessels from narrowing while the bug feeds.1

Sir Vincent Wigglesworth used this bug to study insect hormones. He showed that removing the head during a larval stage makes the insect develop into an adult early.1

Specimens from Venezuela escaped from a research laboratory in San Salvador in 1915 and then spread through Central America, probably helped by travellers carrying them.1

Its wild populations have been linked to the transfer of transposons, which are pieces of DNA that move around, between the bug and some of its hosts, such as squirrel monkeys and opossums.1

The insect goes through five larval stages, and each one ends in a moult about 12 to 15 days after a large blood meal.1