Characteristic to Histeroidea are an accessory posterior ridge (locking device) behind the hind margin and presence of medial loop and apical hinge of wing.

However, Sphaeritidae is believed to only be predatory in the larval stage, with its adults being saprophagous instead.

The Histeridae alone can be found in dung, carrion, fungi, leaf litter, in symbiosis with other animals (e.g. social insects), under tree bark or in galleries of wood-boring beetles.

[3] Three extant families are currently recognized: Sphaeritidae and Synteiidae each contain just a single genus: Sphaerites and Syntelia, respectively.

The oldest fossils of the superfamily are Cretohister and Antigracilus from the Early Cretaceous (Aptian) Yixian Formation of China, which are more closely related to Histeridae than the other two families.