Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2026 Feb 27;20(2):e0014005.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0014005. eCollection 2026 Feb.

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

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

Yuexun Tian et al. PLoS Negl Trop Dis. .

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.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

I have read the journal’s policy and the authors of this manuscript have the following competing interests: 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

Fig 1
Fig 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. Administrative boundaries were obtained from the Natural Earth database (https://www.naturalearthdata.com) using the R packages rnaturalearth and rnaturalearthhires.
Fig 2
Fig 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.
Fig 3
Fig 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.
Fig 4
Fig 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).
Fig 5
Fig 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.
Fig 6
Fig 6. Number of each triatomine species and sex collected from the traps from 2022-2024.
Fig 7
Fig 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.
Fig 8
Fig 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.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Update of

References

    1. Reynoso MMN, Seccacini EA, Calcagno JA, Zerba EN, Alzogaray RA. Toxicity, repellency and flushing out in Triatoma infestans (Hemiptera: Reduviidae) exposed to the repellents DEET and IR3535. PeerJ. 2017;5:e3292. doi: 10.7717/peerj.3292 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Abrahan LB, Gorla DE, Catalá SS. Dispersal of Triatoma infestans and other Triatominae species in the arid Chaco of Argentina: flying, walking or passive carriage? The importance of walking females. Mem Inst Oswaldo Cruz. 2011;106(2):232–9. doi: 10.1590/s0074-02762011000200019 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Lorenzo MG, Reisenman CE, Lazzari CR. Triatoma infestans can be captured under natural climatic conditions using yeast-baited traps. Acta Trop. 1998;70(3):277–84. doi: 10.1016/s0001-706x(98)00042-4 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Noireau F, Abad-Franch F, Valente SAS, Dias-Lima A, Lopes CM, Cunha V, et al. Trapping Triatominae in silvatic habitats. Mem Inst Oswaldo Cruz. 2002;97(1):61–3. doi: 10.1590/s0074-02762002000100009 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Noireau F, Flores R, Vargas F. Trapping sylvatic Triatominae (Reduviidae) in hollow trees. Trans R Soc Trop Med Hyg. 1999;93(1):13–4. doi: 10.1016/s0035-9203(99)90161-x - DOI - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources