CreatureData

Bran bug

Tribolium castaneum (Herbst, 1797)

Status not recordedbeetles

The bran bug (Tribolium castaneum) is a species in the family Tenebrionidae, order Coleoptera.

No freely licensed photo yet

Quick facts about the bran bug

Weight
Not recorded
Length
Not recorded
Lifespan
Not recorded
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
Not recorded
Young per litter or clutch
Not recorded
Conservation status
Not recorded
Countries on record
Not recorded

Where does the bran bug live?

Not recorded

Where has it been introduced?

The Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species lists the bran bug as introduced in 16 countries, and flagged as invasive in 2 of them.

  1. Canary Islandsinvasive
  2. Latviainvasive
  3. Austria
  4. Bulgaria
  5. Denmark
  6. Ecuador
  7. Estonia
  8. Japan
  9. Poland
  10. Russia
  11. Slovenia
  12. Spain
  13. Sweden
  14. United Kingdom
  15. United States
  16. Venezuela

Introduced means brought by people and now present; invasive means the country's checklist records an impact. A species can be native to one part of a country and introduced in another. Source: Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species (CC BY 4.0).

Is the bran bug endangered?

No conservation assessment is recorded for this species in our sources. That is not the same as being safe: it has not been matched to an assessment.

How is the bran bug classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumArthropoda
  3. classInsecta
  4. orderColeoptera
  5. familyTenebrionidae
  6. genusTribolium
  7. SpeciesTribolium castaneum (Herbst, 1797)

Synonyms Colydium castaneum, Dermestes navalis, Tribolium navale

Other names and names in other languages (31)
  • Red flour beetleEnglish
  • Red grain beetleEnglish
  • Rust-red flour beetleEnglish
  • Rust-red flour-beetleEnglish
  • MalkopkewerAfrikaans
  • خنفساء الطحين الحمراءArabic
  • potemník hnědýCzech
  • Rødbrun rismelbilleDanish
  • Rotbrauner ReismehlkäferGerman
  • vakkakuoriainenFinnish
  • tribolium rouge de la farineFrench
  • KornbjallaIcelandic
  • コクヌストモドキJapanese
  • 거짓쌀도둑거저리Korean
  • Mažasis buožiaūsis milčiusLithuanian
  • മാവുവണ്ട്Malayalam
  • kastanjebrun melbilleNorwegian Bokmål
  • WarenzwartlijfDutch
  • trojszyk gryzącyPolish
  • Малый булавоусый хрущакRussian
  • kastanjebrun mjölbaggeSwedish
  • มอดแป้งThai
  • Un BitiTurkish
  • 拟谷盗Chinese
  • RoesrooimeelkewerAfrikaans
  • Kastaniebrun rismelbilleDanish
  • Kastanjebruine rijstmeelkeverDutch
  • 擬榖盜Chinese
  • 赤拟粉甲Chinese
  • 赤拟谷盗Chinese
  • 赤擬穀盜Chinese

Catalogue of Life

Relatives of the bran bug

Other species in the same genus Tribolium.

Dark flour

Tribolium destructor

TenebrionidaeNo free photo yet

CompareBran bug vs Confused flour beetleBran bug vs Dark flourBran bug vs Black flour beetleBran bug vs Tribolium anaphe

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

Is the bran bug an invasive species?

In some places. The Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species flags the bran bug as invasive in 2 countries: Canary Islands and Latvia. It lists it as introduced in 16 in all.

What kind of animal is the bran bug?

The bran bug (Tribolium castaneum) belongs to the family Tenebrionidae in the order Coleoptera.

Sources and how to cite this page

Data as of 2026-11-13. How this page is put together.

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APA

CreatureData. (2026). Bran bug (Tribolium castaneum). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/bran-bug

MLA

“Bran bug (Tribolium castaneum).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/bran-bug.

BibTeX
@misc{bran_bug_2026,
  title = {Bran bug (Tribolium castaneum)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/bran-bug},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-13}
}