Coleopteran Pests: Family Curculionidae

This chapter addresses several species of billbugs and weevils which damage turfgrass in North America. These insects have historically been classified in the family Curculionidae. At least 11 species of billbugs attack managed turfgrass in North America, including the bluegrass billbug; the lesser billbug; S. venatus (Say); S. inaequalis (Say); the hunting billbug; the Phoenix (or Phoenician) billbug; the Rocky Mountain (formerly Denver) billbug; S. coesifrons Gyllenhal; and S. apicalis (LeConte). The bluegrass billbug and hunting billbug are the most widely recognized and serious billbug pests on turfgrass. The chapter also looks at the annual bluegrass weevil, which is a pest exclusively of golf course fairways, tees, greens and collars, and of tennis court turf.

Hunting Billbug, Sphenophorus venatus vestitus Chittenden (Insecta: Coleoptera: Curculionidae)

The hunting billbug, Sphenophorus venatus vestitus Chittenden, is a weevil that is also commonly known as the "zoysia billbug" in Florida, where it has been reported as a pest of various grasses, especially in nurseries. Billbug larva are often confused with white grubs, which is the name usually given to beetle larvae in the genus Phyllophaga, family Scarabaeidae. This document is EENY-207 (originally published as DPI Entomology Circular 45), one of a series of Featured Creatures from the Entomology and Nematology Department, Florida Cooperative Extension Service, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida. Published: May 2001. EENY207/IN364: Hunting Billbug, Sphenophorus venatus vestitus Chittenden (Insecta: Coleoptera: Curculionidae) (ufl.edu)