Only two species of the family Callirhipidae have been described from the Afrotropical zoogeographical region. Callirhipis philiberti Fairmaire, 1891 from the Seychelles is redescribed based on the type specimen and recently collected material. A study of the type specimen of the enigmatic Madagascan species C. hovana Fairmaire, 1901 revealed, that it is in fact a member of the family Elateridae, and is conspecific with Hemiopinus hildebrandti Fairmaire, 1883. Therefore C. hovana syn. nov. is here regarded as a junior subjective synonym of H. hildebrandti. The presently known distribution of the family Callirhipidae in the Afrotropical zoogeographical region is briefly discussed.