# Bread beetle (*Stegobium paniceum*)

Canonical page: https://creaturedata.com/animals/bread-beetle  
Data as of: 2026-11-13

The bread beetle (Stegobium paniceum) is a species in the family Ptinidae, order Coleoptera. Recorded adults reach 2.36 mm in length.

## Quick facts

| Fact | Value |
|---|---|
| Weight | Not recorded |
| Length | 2.36 mm |
| Lifespan | Not recorded |
| Diet | Herbivore |
| Main food | Not recorded |
| Habitat | Not recorded |
| Young per litter or clutch | Not recorded |
| Conservation status | Not recorded |
| Countries on record | Not recorded |

## Introduced range

The Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species lists it as introduced in 14 countries, and flagged as invasive in 2 of them. Introduced: Austria, Canary Islands, Denmark, Ecuador, Estonia, Ireland, Japan, Latvia, Mongolia, Poland, Russia, Sweden, United Arab Emirates, United States. Invasive: Latvia, Sweden. Source: https://griis.org/ (CC BY 4.0).

## Classification

- kingdom: Animalia
- phylum: Arthropoda
- class: Insecta
- order: Coleoptera
- family: Ptinidae
- genus: Stegobium
- species: *Stegobium paniceum* (Linnaeus, 1758)

Synonyms: *Anobium ferrugineum*, *Anobium ireos*, *Anobium minutum*, *Anobium nanum*, *Anobium obesum*, *Anobium paniceum*, *Anobium pusillus*, *Anobium striatellum*, *Anobium tenuestriatum*, *Anobium villosum*, *Byrrhus paniceus*, *Cis bonariensis*, *Cis striatopunctatum*, *Dermestes paniceus*, *Dryophilus pusillus*, *Dryophilus semipallidus*, *Ptinus rubellus*, *Ptinus tenuicornis*, *Ptinus testaceus*, *Ptinus upsaliensis*, *Sitodrepa panicea*, *Stegobium ferrugineum*, *Stegobium ireos*, *Stegobium minutum*, *Stegobium nanum*, *Stegobium obesum*, *Stegobium pusillum*, *Stegobium rubellum*, *Stegobium tenuicorne*, *Stegobium tenuistriatum*, *Stegobium testaceum*, *Stegobium upsaliense*

## Common questions

### How big is the bread beetle?

An adult bread beetle measures 2.36 mm long, according to values recorded on Wikidata.

### Is the bread beetle an invasive species?

In some places. The Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species flags the bread beetle as invasive in 2 countries: Latvia and Sweden. It lists it as introduced in 14 in all.

### What kind of animal is the bread beetle?

The bread beetle (Stegobium paniceum) belongs to the family Ptinidae in the order Coleoptera.

## Sources

- [Catalogue of Life eXtended Release](https://www.checklistbank.org/dataset/316691), CC BY 4.0, 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf
- [Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species (GRIIS)](https://griis.org/), CC BY 4.0, 2026-11-13. Pagad, S., Genovesi, P., Carnevali, L., Schigel, D. & McGeoch, M.A. (2018) Introducing the Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species. Scientific Data 5: 170202. https://doi.org/10.1038/sdata.2017.202. Country checklists published through GBIF by the IUCN SSC Invasive Species Specialist Group.
- [TraitCH: a multi-taxa functional trait dataset for Switzerland and Europe](https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15063844), CC BY 4.0, 2.0. Chauvier, Y., Adde, A., Bergamini, A. et al. (2025) TraitCH: a multi-taxa functional trait dataset for Switzerland and Europe. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15063844

Cite as: Bread beetle (Stegobium paniceum). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/bread-beetle