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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Beetles (Coleoptera) » Polyphaga » Series Cucujiformia » Curculionoidea » Snout and Bark Beetles (Curculionidae) » Dryophthorinae » Rhynchophorini » Sphenophorina » Billbugs (Sphenophorus)

Genus Sphenophorus - Billbugs

Classification · Synonyms and other taxonomic changes · Explanation of Names · Numbers · Identification · Range · Habitat · Food · Remarks · Works Cited
BillBug - Sphenophorus venatus - male LSAM billbug 23 - Sphenophorus parvulus Black Snout Beetle (with a few mites) - Sphenophorus cicatristriatus Sphenophorus holosericus Chittenden - Sphenophorus holosericus Sphenophorus - Sphenophorus venatus Weevil - Sphenophorus australis Sphenophorus sp - Sphenophorus australis Sphenophorus australis australis Chittenden - Sphenophorus australis
Classification
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Coleoptera (Beetles)
Suborder Polyphaga
No Taxon (Series Cucujiformia)
Superfamily Curculionoidea
Family Curculionidae (Snout and Bark Beetles)
Subfamily Dryophthorinae
Tribe Rhynchophorini
Subtribe Sphenophorina
Genus Sphenophorus (Billbugs)
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Calandra, Calendra
Explanation of Names
Sphenophorus Schönherr 1838
Greek 'wedge-bearer'
Numbers
65 spp. in our area(1), ~250 total • selected local faunas: 20 spp. in Canada(2), 24 in SC(3), 25 in FL(4), 18 in CA(5), 11 in NH(6),...
Not yet in the guide (distr. shown within our area):
S. cubensis Buchanan · FL [wetland margins; in sedges]
S. dietrichi (Satterthwait) · FL‒MS habitus photos
S. diversus Chittenden · WA‒CA [=eugenia (Satterthwait)]
S. memnonius Gyllenhal · AZ
S. missouriensis Chittenden · MO
S. neomexicanus Chittenden · AZ‒NM‒CO‒KS‒NE syntype
S. nevadensis Chittenden · CA‒NV
S. robustior Chittenden · MB‒KS‒IL
S. schwarzii Chittenden · VA‒NC habitus photos
S. serratipes Chittenden · AB‒CO‒KS
S. soltauii Chittenden · PA‒KS‒CO‒TX habitus photos
S. terricola Champion · AZ [=reticulatus Chittenden]
Identification
Key to spp. in (7)
Only a small proportion of Sphenophorus have three clear-cut, bare, elevated stripes or ridges (australis, cariosus, costicollis, costipennis, incongruus, latinasus, pertinax, robustus, robustior, and villosiventris)(7)
Range
so.Canada to Argentina; also in the Old World (much fewer spp. there)(8)
Habitat
Fields, wet areas, with host plants
Food
associated with various monocots, incl. grasses (Poaceae) and sedges (Cyperaceae)(1)
Remarks
some spp. damage turfgrass or corn(1); in NA, the following spp. have been reported to damage turfgrass: S. parvulus, S. minimus, S. venatus, S. inaequalis, S. phoeniciensis, S. cicatristriatus, S. coesifrons, S. apicalis (although many other spp. may occur alongside) (Huang 2008)
Works Cited
1.American Beetles, Volume II: Polyphaga: Scarabaeoidea through Curculionoidea
Arnett, R.H., Jr., M. C. Thomas, P. E. Skelley and J. H. Frank. (eds.). 2002. CRC Press LLC, Boca Raton, FL.
2.Bousquet Y., ed. (1991) Checklist of the beetles of Canada and Alaska
3.Weevils of South Carolina (Coleoptera: Nemonychidae, Attelabidae, Brentidae, Ithyceridae, and Curculionidae).
Janet C. Ciegler. 2010. Clemson University, Clemson, S.C. 276 pp.
4.A Distributional Checklist of the Beetles (Coleoptera) of Florida
5.California Beetle Project
6.UNH Insect and Arachnid Collections
7.Revision of the genus Calendra (formerly Sphenophorus) in the United States and Mexico (Coleoptera, Curculionidae)
Vaurie, Patricia. 1951. American Museum of Natural History.
8.A catalog of Coleoptera of America north of Mexico. Curculionidae: Rhynchophorinae
Vaurie P. 1983. USDA handbook no. 529-143a. x+28 pp.
Contributed by Cotinis on 17 November, 2004 - 6:28pm
Additional contributions by Chuck Entz, Mike Quinn, v belov, onegunah
Last updated 11 May, 2025 - 2:02pm

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