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[Preprint]. 2025 Aug 19:2025.05.09.653139.
doi: 10.1101/2025.05.09.653139.

Advancing the design of the kissing bug kill trap for surveillance of triatomines

Yuexun Tian  1 , Nadia A Fernández-Santos  1   2 , Jose G Juarez  3   4 , Henry Esquivel  5 , Andrea M Moller-Vasquez  4 , María Granados-Presa  4 , Adriana Echeverria  4 , Pamela Pennington  4 , Alejandra Zamora-Jerez  4   6 , Juan P Fimbres-Macias  7 , Walter Roachell  8 , Paul A Lenhart  8 , Theresa Casey  9 , Molly E Keck  10 , Carolyn L Hodo  11 , Christopher H Downs  1   12 , Sarah C Sittenauer  1 , Claire Nevins  1 , Sujata Balasubramanian  7 , Carlos Angulo  13 , Carlos Palacios-Cardiel  13 , Ramon Gaxiola-Robles  13 , Tania Zenteno-Savin  13 , Sarah A Hamer  7 , John H Borden  14 , Michael G Banfield  12 , Norma Padilla  4 , Gabriel L Hamer  1
Affiliations

Advancing the design of the kissing bug kill trap for surveillance of triatomines

Yuexun Tian et al. bioRxiv. .

Update in

  • Advancing the design of the kissing bug kill trap for surveillance of triatomines.
    Tian Y, Fernández-Santos NA, Juarez JG, Esquivel H, Moller-Vasquez AM, Granados-Presa M, Echeverria A, Pennington P, Zamora-Jerez A, Fimbres-Macias JP, Roachell W, Lenhart PA, Casey T, Keck ME, Hodo CL, Downs CH, Sittenauer SC, Nevins CC, Balasubramanian S, Angulo C, Palacios-Cardiel C, Gaxiola-Robles R, Zenteno-Savín T, Hamer SA, Borden JH, Banfield MG, Padilla N, Hamer GL. Tian Y, et al. PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2026 Feb 27;20(2):e0014005. doi: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0014005. eCollection 2026 Feb. PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2026. PMID: 41758873 Free PMC article.

Abstract

Standardized surveillance and control of kissing bugs (Hemiptera: Reduviidae: Triatominae), the insect vectors of the Chagas disease parasite Trypanosoma cruzi, which causes Chagas disease, remains difficult. The Kissing Bug Kill Trap consists of solar powered LED lights mounted over a column of black funnels. It operates autonomously to capture, kill and preserve adult triatomines. We conducted experiments from 2022-2024 testing potential ways to improve trap performance, ease of deployment, and minimize cost. Thirteen prototypes evaluated in Texas, Guatemala, and Mexico captured 1,531 triatomines. In 2022-2023 we selected a six-funnel trap suspended from a single support pole with an angle bracket, and with four LED lights and a solar panel mounted above the rain-guard, as a reference trap. In 2023, traps with smaller funnels, blue funnels, and blue lights were inferior to the reference trap based on high by-catch of other arthropods and/or fewer triatomines caught per day. In 2024, traps with more or fewer than six funnels or with LED lights mounted on or below the rain guard did not outperform the reference trap. The experiments added five new triatomine species to the four already known to be caught by the Kissing Bug Kill Trap and revealed differences and similarities in phenology of dispersal flights of Triatoma gerstaeckeri over a three-year period in Texas. The reference trap was selected as the pre-commercial prototype, based on its suitability for triatomine surveillance and potential for reducing the risk of T. cruzi infection by intercepting dispersing adult triatomines before they reach human habitats.

Keywords: Insect solar-light traps; arthropod vectors; neglected tropical diseases.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interest We declare that the prototype trap developed during this study is associated with a patent application filed on behalf of GLH, MGB, and JHB and assigned to our respective institutions with an assignment to the US government.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Map of the locations of the traps in Texas, USA, Mexico, and Guatemala during 2022–2024. BRGVSP: Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley State Park; ELGSP: Estero Llano Grande State Park; RDLPSP: Resaca De La Palma State Park; PR: private residence.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Diagram of the evaluation locations of Kissing Bug Kill Trap in Texas, Guatemala, and Mexico with different trap prototypes (Table 1) deployed from 2022–2024.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Kissing Bug Kill Trap prototypes evaluated in 2022. A) 6-funnel Multitrap trap with two large light panels deployed in Texas (TRAP1); B) 6-funnel Multitrap trap with 4 small light panels deployed in Texas (TRAP2), C) TRAP1 prototype deployed in Guatemala, D) TRAP2 prototype deployed in Guatemala.
Figure 4.
Figure 4.
Five Kissing Bug Kill Trap prototypes evaluated in Texas in 2023. A) TRAP2A, Multitrap with 6 funnels and 4-panel lights; B) Lindgren black funnel trap with 8 funnels and 4-panel lights (TRAP4); C) Lindgren black funnel with 4 funnels and 4-panel light (TRAP5); D) Lindgren blue funnel trap with 8 funnels and 4-panel light; E) Lindgren blue funnel trap with 8 funnels and blue LED light strips (TRAP7); F) Lindgren black funnel nested together with 11 funnels and small LED (TRAP-MEXICO).
Figure 5.
Figure 5.
Kissing Bug Kill Traps deployed in Texas in 2024. Group one compares Multitraps with A) TRAP8, 3 funnels, B) TRAP2A. 6 funnels, C) TRAP9, 9 funnels, and D) TRAP10, 12 funnels, and Group 2 compares Multitraps with E) TRAP2A, 4 LED lights above the rainguard, F) TRAP11, 4 LED lights on the perimeter of rainguard, G) TRAP12, 4 LED lights under the rainguard, and H) TRAP13, 5 LED lights under the rainguard.
Figure 6.
Figure 6.
Number of each triatomine species and sex collected from the traps from 2022–2024.
Figure 7.
Figure 7.
Weekly phenology of Triatoma gerstaeckeri catch per day per trap in 2022–2024 at south Texas and San Antonio. The trap data for all south Texas locations and all San Antonio locations are averaged.
Figure 8.
Figure 8.
Weekly number of by-catch per day per trap in 2022–2024 at south Texas and San Antonio. The trap data for all south Texas locations and all San Antonio locations are averaged.
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