They have always been a mystery for specialists since these insects do not show any strong resemblance with other cerambycids. At first placed in the Prioninae due to the lateral ridge of the pronotum, the Oxypeltinae have been separated. Saalas' studySAALAS U., 1936 - Über das Flügelgeäder und die phylogenetische Entwicklung der Cerambyciden - Annales Zoologici Societatis Zoologicae-Botanicae Fennicae Vanamo 4 (1): 1-193. on the posterior wings of Cerambycids put into light the fact that the wings of the Oxypeltinae were unusually pigmented. More recently, the research workŠVÁCHA P., WANG J. J. & CHEN S. C., 1997 - Larval morphology and biology of Philus antennatus and Heterophilus punctulatus, and systematic position of the Philinae (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae and Vesperidae) - Annales de la Société Entomologique de France (N. S.) 33 (3): 323-369. done on the larvae showed a far (and doubtful) relationship with the Vesperidae. Therefore, the group of Oxypeltinae has been recently considered as a different family.NAPP D. S. 1994 - Phylogenetic relationships among the subfamilies of Cerambycidae (Coleoptera, Chrysomeloidea) - Revista Brasileira de Entomologia 28 (2): 265-419.
