Most people think of dangerous bites as something dramatic: a sharp sting, sudden pain, a welt that makes you yelp and grab for ice. The kissing bug doesn’t work like that. It moves in silence, under cover of darkness, in the hours when you’re most vulnerable and least aware. You’re asleep, breathing steadily, and the bug is drawn to the warmth of your body and the carbon dioxide you exhale. It crawls toward the thin, soft skin of your face, lips, or eyelids. By the time morning comes, what little you might see—a faint red mark, a slightly itchy patch—looks like a random mosquito bite or a minor skin irritation. You brush it off, get dressed, start your day, and never realize that something far more dangerous may have been set in motion beneath your skin.

The kissing bug, or triatomine bug, is a type of blood-sucking insect found in many regions of the Americas and, increasingly, in other parts of the world due to travel and environmental changes. It often hides in cracks in walls, under mattresses, in animal shelters, or in cluttered, poorly sealed homes. Not every kissing bug carries disease, but those that are infected can transmit a microscopic parasite called Trypanosoma cruzi, the cause of Chagas disease.