Triatoma protracta is an assassin bug (family Reduviidae

Reduviidae

Reduviidae is a large, cosmopolitan family of predatory insects in the suborder Heteroptera...

) of the order Hemiptera

Hemiptera

Hemiptera is an order of insects most often known as the true bugs , comprising around 50,000–80,000 species of cicadas, aphids, planthoppers, leafhoppers, shield bugs, and others...

. A 2 cm, brown-black nocturnal insect

Insect

Insects are a class of living creatures within the arthropods that have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body , three pairs of jointed legs, compound eyes, and two antennae...

 found in forests, it is common in the southwestern USA

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

.

This particular species lives in association, and feeds almost exclusively on wood rats of the genus Neotoma. While this species carries the parasite that can cause Chagas disease

Chagas disease

Chagas disease is a tropical parasitic disease caused by the flagellate protozoan Trypanosoma cruzi. T. cruzi is commonly transmitted to humans and other mammals by an insect vector, the blood-sucking insects of the subfamily Triatominae most commonly species belonging to the Triatoma, Rhodnius,...

, it rarely infects humans as defecation is delayed 20–30 minutes after feeding, in contrast to the immediate defecation behavior displayed by the Latin American species

Triatoma infestans

Triatoma infestans, commonly called vinchuca and also known as "barber bug", is a blood-sucking bug and the most important vector of Trypanosoma cruzi which can lead to Chagas disease...

. The Western Conenose is still dangerous as its bite is painless, and its saliva can cause allergic reactions up to and including anaphylactic shock.