Below is an article I spotted on my local news website called WSLS Channel 10 – The original article is out of Reenville NC (WNCT) – The reason is caught my eye is well a bug that kisses you (bites) and you can die from it is news I feel important, and especially important since I keep seeing these weird bugs (see my photos below) around my home and on my home that look to be a large adult kissing bug as seen in the chart way below my photos. I live in Roanoke VA near (along) the blue-ridge parkway and there are hundreds and hundreds if not over 1000 acres of woods behind my home. I see all sorts of wildlife and bugs that are strange and I take pictures of everything I think is Odd!
So here is the picture of what I believe is “Kissing Bug” in Roanoke VA – This is a Kissing Bug that is 5th nymphal instar per Wikipedia: Nymphal Instar is the term used to denote the developmental stage.
UPDATE – UPDATE – UPDATE! After posting a photo of this bug below on a facebook thread started by WSLS NEW Channel 10 in Roanoke VA – I was told this is a picture of a Wheel Bug (which is a scary bug too) by some nice FB users and then that other guy TIM McCoy.
Photos By Joshua H. (OddYap.com Creator)
The News Release About The Deadly Kissing Bug and Kiss Of Death
EXCERPT: “A bug with a deadly bite is getting a lot of attention across the country.
Known as the kissing bug, it feeds on human blood and leaves behind a parasite that causes Chagas disease.
The bug often bites people in the face at night while they’re sleeping, hence the name kissing bug.
Chagas disease attacks tissue and muscles in the body and can cause a host of problems, including heart disease.
Dr. Anil Mangla, a communicable diseases expert, says : “It can be there for about twenty years, two decades, and then you start seeing these symptoms and one of the major symptoms is sudden death.”
Other symptoms often include swelling near the bite and pain in the gut.”
(SOURCE: WNCN)
Sounds very scary to me since I have seen the little black and red kissing bugs many times. I have seen them run with stink bugs here in Roanoke VA. I have even carried them out of my house before in my bare hands thinking they were harmless *(Stupid Me – But I am not a BUG GUY TIM). We will get to who Tim is in a moment.
So these Kissing Bugs are buzzing all over my region right now online and offline. If you see one… STEP ON IT!
Click here for more info on the kissing bug from the CDC.
About Tim. Tim McCoy is apparently a very well educated (OPINION: IN BUGS NOT INTERNET ETIQUETTE) human that studied entomology (a branch of zoology) which is the scientific study of insects at Florida State University and is now a “Research Specialist” at Virginia Tech (GO HOKIES!). Tim was the 3rd and last person to help me properly identify the Wheel Bug which I mistook for a kissing bug. He decided to chime in (AT #3) with his satirical comments on my FB comment/photo waving his entomology credentials around like a hall pass to boorishly reprove me. It was just a bug that I thought was a kissing bug TIM. Maybe Tim McCoy would benefit from some sensitivity training or a class on internet etiquette if he is representing VA TECH.
