第 1059 号，共 1 402 张

Rhodnius kissing bug

Rhodnius prolixus

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

需要看医生很少致命，但被咬了要去看医生。

毛毛虫和虫子

咬伤吃：肉

对人的危险: 严重被咬了要去看医生。死亡非常罕见。

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

生活在

Northern South America and Central America1

北美洲, 南美洲

首页

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

长度

2 cm (0.8 in)3

典型成年个体大小

最高速度

约 0.5 公里/小时（0.31 英里/小时）

在陆地上, 粗略估计

它吃什么？

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.

怎样认出它

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

毒液之力

咬伤

它咬的时候，毒液通过毒牙或牙齿出来。

它对人有多危险？

对人的危险: 严重被咬了要去看医生。死亡非常罕见。

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

如果它咬人

被毛毛虫的蜇毛扎到：用胶带把毛粘掉，再清洗皮肤。不要揉。
被咬：清洗并冷敷。如果感到不适或容易出血，就去看医生。

一定先拨打你的急救电话（112、000、911）。这里是一般急救指导，不是医疗建议。急救基础

注意安全

永远不要摸、抓或逗弄野生动物，即使是很小的，即使它看起来在睡觉或已经死了。
给它留出空间。如果遇到它，保持冷静，慢慢后退，让它走自己的路。
如果被它咬了：保持冷静，保持不动，拨打你的急救电话（112、000、911）或尽快去医院。记住它长什么样，拍张照片会有帮助。

它不是冲着你来的。它用毒液捕猎或保护自己，而且它更愿意躲起来。更多安全知识

在世界哪里？

非洲亚洲欧洲北美洲南美洲澳大利亚和大洋洲

它有多大？

它有多长？

差不多和一个回形针一样长

Rhodnius kissing bug和你比起来有多大？

只是在你的浏览器里算一算。什么都不会被保存或发送到任何地方。

它有多快？

一只陆龟 约 0.3 公里/小时 (0.19 mph)

Rhodnius kissing bug 约 0.5 公里/小时 (0.31 mph)

一个在走路的人 约 5 公里/小时 (3.1 mph)

值得了解

事实

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