[1] Belids were more widespread during the Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous, about 161 to 100 million years ago, when they were found at least in Central Asia, Spain and Brazil.

[1] The adults are distinguished from other ancient weevil lineages by some characteristic traits: The fore tibia of belines is unusual in that it has a comb of bristles (setae) in an apical groove opposite the tarsal articulation; this is used for grooming.

In most, the antennae have a retractable membrane at the base (not in Parallocorynus and Rhopalotria), and the alimentary canal has caeca distributed all over at random (in two clean bundles in Aglycyderini and Metrioxenini).

But altogether, belids (as opposed to many other weevils) are normally harmless and can be beneficial, the adults as pollinators and the larvae as indicator species for bad condition of their host plants.

The Pacific genus Proterhinus has undergone a vigorous adaptive radiation on the Hawaiian Islands and evolved to utilize a wide range of the limited diversity of plants found there.