According to some sources Derepteryx is the older name, dating back to 1839, while Molipteryx was proposed in 1979.

[4] The genus was named from the "winged" neck, Derepteryx; the species being D. grayii, of a brown colour, the thorax rough with tubercles.

[5] Derepteryx grayii has a rounded head with a short rostrum that barely reaches the fore coxae.

It also has a convex pronotum with a shallow longitudinal groove in the middle.

The lateral dilation of the thorax is bent forward and upward like Molipteryx hardwickii but the difference is in the proportions of the joints of the antennae, the basal joints being the longest, the second, third, and fourth differing but little in length, the last slightly bent, and in the veining of the hemelytra.