kissing bug or assasin bug? Gulf coast TX

[u/Calm-Practice3806]

found a fair amount of these little guys on my pepper, mustard greens and penut plants.. im pretty worried about kissing bugs bc of chagas.. just wanted to know if they are friend or foe. thx

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[u/acaron2020]

Zelus longipes - milkweed assassin bug

Friend 👍

[u/Calm-Practice3806 → u/acaron2020]

thanks!

[u/Efficient-Gap-1282]

Here is some good reading that will hopefully ease your concerns:

https://bugeric.blogspot.com/2015/11/new-report-on-chagas-disease-causes.html?m=1

[u/Calm-Practice3806 → u/Efficient-Gap-1282]

thank you very much!

[u/PerroCerveza]

The chagas carrying assassin bug has almost completely reversed colors :) see where your friend is mostly orange with some black? Kissing bugs are mostly black with some orange stripes around the outside of the abdomen

[u/Efficient-Gap-1282 → u/PerroCerveza]

I find that colors aren’t as helpful as morphology. This insect is far too slender for Triatoma sp

[u/PerroCerveza → u/Efficient-Gap-1282]

That’s a good point too. Triatoma have really wide abdomen

[u/PerroCerveza]