The concept of this family has been expanded with the inclusion of three groups formerly placed in the Curculionidae; the subfamilies Apioninae, Cyladinae, and Nanophyinae, as well as the Ithycerinae, previously considered a separate family.

They are most diverse in the tropics, but occur throughout the temperate regions of the world.

They are among the families of weevils that have non-elbowed antennae, and tend to be elongate and flattened, though there are numerous exceptions.

The New York weevil has been included in a broadly defined family definition, placed as the only genus in a subfamily Ithycerinae,[1] This position has not been retained by some authors who treat the genus and its extinct relatives treated as the separate family Ithyceridae.

[3] Brentid larvae are fungivorous, eating fungi on dead wood.