The Vesperidae are a small family of beetles, normally classified within the family Cerambycidae, of heterogeneous aspect but all characterised by larval stages related to roots of herbaceous plants or trees The nocturnal adults are characterised by earthy brown-testaceous colours, brachypterous wings or apterous (especially in females) and physogastry in females.

In particular, the Mediterranean genus Vesperus have larvae characterised by a peculiar larval hypermetamorphosis.

[2] Some peculiar larval characteristics of Vesperus has prompted some authorities to separate them as a subfamily and later as a distinct family.

[3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11]In 1997 Švácha, Wang & Chen recognised the morphological similarities among these three groups in the larval stadia.

[12] More recently, analyses on chromosomes has also evidenced strong differences with respect to Cerambycidae.