True Bugs

Bed bugs (family Cimicidae) are wingless bugs with a body length of about 0.2 in (6 mm). Bed bugs feed by sucking the blood of birds or mammals. Various species will bite humans, and they can be serious pests in homes, hotels, and other places, especially the common bed bug (Cimex lectularius). Bed bugs come out at night, hiding during the day in cracks and crevices in walls and furniture. The bites of these insects are very irritating, but bed bugs are not known to be a vector of human diseases.

Chagas' disease is common in parts of Central and South America, and is spread by blood-sucking bugs in the genus Triatoma, especially T. infestans. These are sometimes known as kissing bugs because of their tendency to bite near the mouth of their victims. Chagas' disease is a debilitating malady of humans, and is caused by a pathogenic trypanosome, Trypanosoma cruzi, a type of parasitic protozoan that lives in the blood. Chagas' disease is characterized by a recurring fever, and often a enfeebling inflammation of the heart muscles.