Hunting Billbug

Sphenophorus venatus · Order: Coleoptera · Family: Dryophthoridae

No source yet on danger. We have no source yet on whether it bites, stings or damages anything.
Hunting Billbug
Photo: Will Kuhn, CC BY

The hunting billbug lives in Central and North America and has also spread to the Balkans and Eastern Mediterranean. It is native to Central and North America. It is a beetle in the family Dryophthoridae.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it lives

Found in Central America, North America, the Balkans and the Eastern Mediterranean.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it comes from

Native to Central America and North America.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it is found in the US

Recorded in 41 of 51 states and DC. Most records: California, Texas, North Carolina, Georgia, Oregon, Arizona, New Mexico, Alabama.

Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.

Source: GBIF

Months it is reported in the US

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Source: GBIF

More photos

Hunting Billbug photo 3
Photo: Sam Kieschnick, CC BY
Hunting Billbug photo 4
Photo: Cory Butterfield, CC BY
Hunting Billbug photo 5
Photo: Cory Butterfield, CC BY
Hunting Billbug photo 6
Photo: Sean Golden, CC BY

Same family (Dryophthoridae)

Rice WeevilRice WeevilSitophilus oryzaeCan damage your homeWheat WeevilWheat WeevilSitophilus granariusDamages trees, gardens or cropsRed Palm WeevilRed Palm WeevilRhynchophorus ferrugineusDamages trees, gardens or cropsCocklebur WeevilCocklebur WeevilRhodobaenus quinquepunctatusSouth American Palm WeevilSouth American Palm WeevilRhynchophorus palmarumDamages trees, gardens or cropsIronweed CurculioIronweed CurculioRhodobaenus tredecimpunctatus

Sources

  • Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sphenophorus_venatus

Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · ITIS · Wikipedia

Text written 2026-10-24 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-24.

How this page works

This is one bug's fact sheet. The colored box at the top says whether it is dangerous. Sections below cover how to recognize it, whether it is a pest, and how to deal with it. The US map shows which states have records; tap a state to see other bugs there.

Every fact on Bug FAQ comes from a named source (university extension sites, government agencies, GBIF, iNaturalist, Wikipedia). The source is linked next to each section. If we have no source for something, we leave it out.