parasitic insect (Rhodnius prolixus) in cases of transposon transfer. It’s a mean little critter, this insect, native to South America and Central America, that feeds on the blood of birds, reptiles, and mammals, including humans. It belongs to the group known as kissing bugs, because they tend to bite in the area near a victim’s mouth. Kissing bugs are despised in the American tropics not just for biting but also for their role in transmitting Chagas disease, a lingering and sometimes fatal affliction caused by a protozoan that replicates in a victim’s blood and tissues.
