OK, a few days ago on Halloween afternoon I found another dreaded red Zelus specimen in my back yard, this time a good-sized lively one, that I was able to capture and photograph. Holy moley, I think it even layed a few eggs in my collection jar (or perhaps it just produced some waste).
Today I got a callback from a nice lady at the Texas Department of State Health Services who referred me to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Georgia. There is an established procedure for specimen submission to test for Chaga’s, and she emailed the details. The gist is you request a FedEx number, prepare it securely as they request and ship it to them for free analysis to see if the T. cruzi is present. I’ll be working on that, like, IMMEDIATELY. Naturally, I had to snap some pics for more documentation:
There’s a little piece of fluff on its leg…but what’s that other stuff? Looks like eggs…
Good view of the mouthparts as well as the underbelly I think.
My best Photoshop effort to show the orange-ish mass
OK, I’m getting itchy all over and this is creepin’ me out, so I gotta go.