[1] This order was created in 1950 to distinguish these pauropods from those in the newly discovered genus Millotauropus, which was found to have such distinctive features as to warrant placement in a separate order (Hexamerocerata) created to contain that genus.

[3] Adult pauropods in the order Tetramerocerata feature antennae that have four stalk segments and are not telescopic, whereas species in the order Hexamerocerata have strongly telescopic antennae with six stalk segments.

In Tetramerocerata, the distal part of the ventral antennal branch also features a spheroid sense organ, the globulus.

The mandibles in Tetramerocerata are adapted for sucking fluids and are used to puncture cell walls.

[4] Most species in the order Tetramerocerata develop through a series of five post-embryonic stages, from the first instar to the adult.