The genus was described by Witenberg in 1932. phylogenetic analysis has been published on Southwellina species.

[2] The life cycle of an acanthocephalan consists of three stages beginning when an infective acanthor (development of an egg) is released from the intestines of the definitive host and then ingested by an arthropod, the intermediate host.

This stage involves penetrating the wall of the mesenteron or the intestine of the intermediate host and growing.

[5] Southwellina is a generalist parasite that uses a wide range of definitive hosts to complete its life cycle.

[6] There are no reported cases of Southwellina infesting humans in the English language medical literature.