OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) – An Oklahoma woman grew concerned after her backyard paradise was taken over by bugs.
Wanda Delaney says she is worried they are kissing bugs that can carry something called Chagas disease. The kissing bug is named after its behavior, where it tends to bite the face, specifically around the mouth.
She says she doesn’t know exactly what the bugs are but that they’re everywhere.
“This morning I probably saw 20 of them while the sun was coming up,” said Delaney. “…I started seeing a few at night, mostly. They’d come out in the evening when the sun would go down.”
She describes them as tiny drones.
“They follow you, they land wherever, and they’re just all over. They’re really creepy. Really creepy.”
Nexstar’s KFOR took her concerns to the experts at Oklahoma State University, and Dr. Jonathan Cammack, assistant professor and specialist, knew exactly what Delaney had in her backyard after seeing a photo.
“That’s a leaf-footed bug,” said Dr. Cammack. “We typically see leaf-footed bugs in garden situations. So, like on tomato plants and other things.”
But Dr. Cammack says it’s easy to confuse other bugs with the kissing bug.
“There are a bunch of species of insects that are closely related to kissing bugs that look very similar to them,” he says. “So they’re all going to have that black and red patterning.”
Dr. Cammack says he can see how they got mixed up. He says if you’re unsure about a bug, collect it and send it in.
“Reach out to your local extension office to get some of those specimens collected so that we can get a positive identification,” said Dr. Camamck.
Dr. Cammack says there are two types of kissing bugs in Oklahoma across several counties. While they can carry a disease, there have been no confirmed human infections in the state.
Abigail Franklin
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