[3] A 2021 phylogenetic analysis determined that the species did not belong in Herpsilochmus and the authors coined the new genus Radinopsyche for it.

[5][2][6] However, as of December 2023 BirdLife International's Handbook of the Birds of the World retains the species in Herpsilochmus.

Its specific epithet honors Friedrich Sellow for his "important collections of natural history specimens from eastern Brazil, which numbered approximately 5,457 birds" and numerous mammals, invertebrates, plants, and geological materials.

[9][10] The Caatinga antwren is found in north-central and eastern Brazil, in southern Pará and from Maranhão east to Rio Grande do Norte and south to Bahia and just into northern Minas Gerais.

[9] The Caatinga antwren's diet has not been fully defined but is known to include a variety of insects and spiders.

It forages singly, in pairs, and in small family groups and often joins mixed-species feeding flocks.

The Caatinga antwren's song is a "very high, short, fast rattle, like 'wrrrrrru'; somewhat rising at start and lowered at end".

Its habitat is under pressure by conversion to human occupation, agriculture, ranching, and petroleum extraction.