A report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently confirmed that a kissing bug, Triatoma sanguisuga, bit a girl on the face in Delaware last summer. This is the first time this kissing bug species has been identified in Delaware. This report is significant because kissing bugs can carry the disease organism that causes Chagas disease, a potentially fatal disease. Fortunately, the kissing bug that bit the girl in Delaware tested negative for the Chagas disease organism but its presence does cause some worry about a northerly movement of kissing bugs. Three species of kissing bugs found in the U.S. Triatoma sanguisuga is on the left . Photo: Gabriel L. Hamer Where do they come from? Nearly all kissing bugs are tropical or subtropical in distribution and are typically found in South America, Central America, Mexico. However, they have been increasingly more common in the U.S., especially in the south from California to the Carolinas. They have