Kissing bugs, also known as triatomine bugs or kissing beetles, are found primarily throughout the Americas, including North America, Central America, and South America. In the United States, they have been found in 29 to 32 states, mostly in southern and western regions such as Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, and California. They are also reported as far north and west as Ohio, Missouri, Nebraska, Colorado, Utah, Nevada, and even Hawaii. Kissing bugs typically inhabit areas close to animals they feed on, such as mammals (including humans and pets like dogs and cats), birds (like chickens), and reptiles. They live in various environments including nests and burrows of rodents and small mammals, beneath porches, between rocks, under cement, in rock, wood or brush piles, under tree bark, in animal burrows, doghouses, kennels, and chicken coops. In homes, they can hide in cracks and holes in beds, floors, walls, and furniture, especially near areas where pets sleep or rodents nest. They are nocturnal and feed on blood during the night, often biting people on the face, which is how they got their name.
