It was formally transferred from Opius to Utetes by Wharton (1997). Utetes had been recognized as a subgenus of Opius by Fischer (1972), and later elevated to generic rank by Wharton (1988). However, most of the species were not formally transferred to Utetes until 1997, after Utetes had been redefined (Wharton 1997).
This species was renamed as Opius tephritivorus by Wharton (1987) when it was discovered that there were two species with the name africanus in the genus Opius. However, with the transfer of this species to Utetes (Wharton 1997), the new name is no longer necessary and the correct name is therefore Utetes africanus (Szépligeti, 1910).