They have at one time been classified as a suborder Anisozygoptera, considered as intermediate between the dragonflies and the damselflies, partly because the hind wings and fore wings are very similar in size and shape, and partly because the insect at rest holds them back over the body as damselflies do.

These attributes now are known to be misleading however; the genus Epiophlebia shares a more recent ancestor with dragonflies and became separated from other Anisoptera in and around the uplifting Himalayas.

[2][3] The species was first described from a larva collected in June 1918 by Stanley Kemp in a stream just above Sonada in the vicinity of Darjeeling.

It was identified as an Epiophlebia by Dr. F. F. Laidlaw of Devon who dissected the wing sheaths of the specimen and his identification was endorsed by R.J. Tillyard, who described and gave it the commemorative name.

The two species have a similar physical appearance, black body with bright yellow stripes on the thorax and abdomen.