Palophinae

Life-forms

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Cladus: Unikonta
Cladus: Opisthokonta
Cladus: Holozoa
Regnum: Animalia
Subregnum: Eumetazoa
Cladus: Bilateria
Cladus: Nephrozoa
Cladus: Protostomia
Cladus: Ecdysozoa
Cladus: Panarthropoda
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Hexapoda
Classis: Insecta
Cladus: Dicondylia
Subclassis: Pterygota
Cladus: Metapterygota
Infraclassis: Neoptera
Supercohort: Polyneoptera
Cohort: Anartioptera
Magnordo: Polyorthoptera
Superordo: Orthopterida
Ordo: Phasmatodea
Superfamilia: Phasmatoidea

Familia: Diapheromeridae
Subfamilia: Palophinae
Genera: Bactrododema – Dematobactron
Name

Palophinae Kirby 1896
Type Genus

Bactrododema Stål, 1858

Palophinae is a subfamily of the stick insect family Diapheromeridae. They belong to the superfamily Anareolatae of suborder Verophasmatodea.[1]

Altogether about 20 species of Palophinae are known to date. They have a relictual distribution and are endemic to the southern Africa, with one occurring as far north as the Gulf of Guinea.[2]
Systematics

This is the smallest and least diverse of the Diapheromeridae subfamilies. Sometimes this subfamily is held to contain a single tribe Palophini, but this is redundant as long as no basal members of this lineage are known e.g. as fossils. Of its mere two genera, one is fairly speciose (with new species still being discovered), but the other is monotypic.[2]

The genera are:[1]

Bactrododema Stål, 1858 (including Palophus)
Dematobactron Karny, 1923

Footnotes

PSG (2009)

Brock (2004)

References

Data related to Palophinae at Wikispecies

Brock, P.D. (2004): Taxonomic notes on giant southern African stick insects (Phasmida), including the description of a new Bactrododema species. Annals of the Transvaal Museum 41: 61–77. HTML abstract
Phasmid Study Group (PSG) (2009): Phasmida SpeciesFile – Palophinae. Version of 2009-SEP-28. Retrieved 2011-APR-19.