Classification
The subfamilial classification of the family has been reorganized by several different authors within the last 20 years, and is not yet stable; the most recent, and conservative, classification (Oberprieler et al., 2007) accepts only 6 subfamilies, with many familiar subfamilial taxa (e.g., Antliarhininae, Cyladinae, Cyphagoginae, Myrmacicelinae and Trachelizinae) now relegated to the corresponding tribal groups, Antliarhinini, Cyladini, Cyphagogini, Myrmacicelini and Trachelizini, primarily within the subfamily Brentinae. The New York weevil has been included in a broadly defined family definition, placed as the only genus in a subfamily Ithycerinae, This position has not been retained by some authors who treat the genus and its extinct relatives treated as the separate family Ithyceridae. There are 4000 known species of Brentids.
