PBDB Taxon

Basic info	Taxonomic history	Classification	Included Taxa
Morphology	Ecology and taphonomy	External Literature Search	Age range and collections

Phasmatodea (stick insect)

Insecta - Phasmatodea

Taxonomy

Phasmatodea was named by Jacobson and Bianchi (1902). It is extant.

It was corrected as Phasmoidea by Handlirsch (1906); it was synonymized subjectively with Spectra by Kluge (2010).

It was assigned to Orthopteroidea by Martynov (1925) and Sharov (1968); to Orthopterida by Engel and Grimaldi (2004); to Orthoneoptera by Kukalová-Peck and Lawrence (2004); to Insecta by Wedmann et al. (2007); to Holophasmatodea by Bradler and Buckley (2011); to Polyneoptera by Handlirsch (1906) and Misof et al. (2014); and to Eukinolabia by Terry and Whiting (2005) and Wipfler et al. (2019).

Subtaxa

Areolatae, Chresmododea, Euphasmatodea, Necrophasmatodea, Pterophasmatidae, Raphidium (syn. Ela), Timematodea

Synonyms

Areolatae was named by Redtenbacher (1906). It is extant.

It was reranked as the unranked clade Areolatae by Zompro (2004); it was considered an invalid subgroup of Phasmatodea by Simon et al. (2019).

It was assigned to Phasmatodea by Zompro (2001); and to Verophasmatodea by Zompro (2004).

Synonymy list

Year	Name and author
1902	Phasmatodea Jacobson and Bianchi
1906	Phasmoidea Handlirsch p. 523
1906	Areolatae Redtenbacher
1925	Phasmatodea Martynov p. 576
1968	Phasmatodea Sharov
2001	Areolatae Zompro p. 233
2004	Phasmatodea Engel and Grimaldi
2004	Phasmatodea Kukalová-Peck and Lawrence
2004	Areolatae Zompro p. 42
2005	Phasmatodea Terry and Whiting
2007	Phasmatodea Wedmann et al. p. 565
2011	Phasmatodea Bradler and Buckley
2014	Phasmatodea Misof et al.
2019	Phasmatodea Wipfler et al.

Is something missing? Join the Paleobiology Database and enter the data

Rank	Name	Author
kingdom	Animalia	()
—	Bilateria
—	Eubilateria	Ax 1987
—	Protostomia
—	Ecdysozoa
—	Panarthropoda
phylum	Arthropoda	Latreille 1829
superclass	Hexapoda	Latreille 1825
class	Insecta
—	Dicondylia

Rank	Name	Author
—	Paranotalia
subclass	Pterygota	()
—	Neopterygota	Crampton 1924
infraclass	Neoptera	Martynov 1923
—	Polyneoptera	Martynov 1938
—	Eukinolabia
—	Holophasmatodea
order	Phasmatodea	Jacobson and Bianchi 1902
order	Phasmatodea	Jacobson and Bianchi 1902

If no rank is listed, the taxon is considered an unranked clade in modern classifications. Ranks may be repeated or presented in the wrong order because authors working on different parts of the classification may disagree about how to rank taxa.

Or. Phasmatodea Jacobson and Bianchi 1902 [stick insect]

show all | hide all

Unr. Euphasmatodea Bradler 1999

hide

G. †Araripephasma Ghirotto et al. 2022

†Araripephasma reliquum Mendes et al. 2019

Unr. Neophasmatodea Engel et al. 2016

Subfm. †Echinosomiscinae Engel 2016

G. †Echinosomiscus Engel 2016

†Echinosomiscus primoticus Engel and Wang 2016

G. †Elasmophasma Chen et al. 2018

†Elasmophasma longitubus Yang et al. 2022

†Elasmophasma stictum Chen et al. 2018

Unr. Occidophasmata Simon et al. 2019

Fm. Agathemeridae Bradler 2003

G. Agathemera Stål 1875

Subfm. Diapheromerinae Kirby 1904

Tr. Diapheromerini Kirby 1904

Subfm. Pseudophasmatinae Rehn 1904

Tr. Anisomorphini Redtenbacher 1906

Tr. Heteronemiini Rehn 1904

Invalid names: Bacunculidae Brunner von Wattenwyl 1893 [synonym]

Tr. Pseudophasmatini Rehn 1904

Invalid names: Diapheromeridae Kirby 1904 [invalid subgroup], Pseudophasmatidae Rehn 1904 [invalid subgroup], Pseudophasmatoidea Rehn 1904 [invalid subgroup]

Unr. Oriophasmata Simon et al. 2019

Fm. Phylliidae Karny 1923 [true leaf insect]

Subfm. Phylliinae Karny 1923 [true leaf insect]

G. †Rhabdophasma Yang et al. 2022

†Rhabdophasma arboreum Yang et al. 2022

G. †Tanaophasma Yang et al. 2022

†Tanaophasma applanatum Yang et al. 2022

Invalid names: Anareolatae Redtenbacher 1906 [invalid subgroup], Verophasmatodea Zompro 2004 [invalid subgroup]

Fm. †Pterophasmatidae Yang et al. 2019

hide

G. †Ambrotophasma Yang et al. 2022

†Ambrotophasma vetulum Yang et al. 2022

G. †Leptophasma Yang et al. 2019

†Leptophasma physematosa Yang et al. 2019

G. †Meniscophasma Yang et al. 2019

†Meniscophasma erythrosticta Yang et al. 2019

G. †Pterophasma Yang et al. 2019

†Pterophasma erromera Yang et al. 2019

G. †Raphidium Westwood 1854

hide

†Raphidium brephos Westwood 1854

Invalid names: Ela Giebel 1856 [objective synonym]

Subor. Timematodea Kevan 1982

hide

G. †Electrotimema Zompro 2005

†Electrotimema carstengroehni Zompro 2005

Fm. Timematidae Caudell 1903

G. †Breviala Yang et al. 2023

†Breviala cretacea Yang et al. 2023

G. †Electroclavella Yang et al. 2023

†Electroclavella genuina Yang et al. 2023

G. †Granosicorpes Chen et al. 2019

†Granosicorpes lirates Chen et al. 2019

G. †Tumefactipes Chen et al. 2019

†Tumefactipes prolongates Chen et al. 2019

Invalid names: Areolatae Redtenbacher 1906 [invalid subgroup], Chresmododea Martynov 1928 [empty], Necrophasmatodea Martynov 1925 [empty]

Diagnosis

No diagnoses are available

Measurements

No measurements are available

Composition:

chitinc

Environment:

terrestrialc

Locomotion:

actively mobilep

Created:

2017-04-17 09:56:18

Modified:

2017-04-17 09:56:18

Source: c = class, p = phylum

References: Bush and Bambach 2015, Kiessling 2004

Age range

Maximum range based only on fossils: base of the Callovian to the top of the Pliocene or 166.10000 to 2.58800 Ma
Minimum age of oldest fossil (stem group age): 157.3 Ma

Collections (35 total)

Time interval	Ma	Country or state	Original ID and collection number
Callovian - Oxfordian	166.1 - 157.3	China (Nei Mongol)	Ambrotophasma vetulum (196979)
Early/Lower Berriasian	145.0 - 140.2	United Kingdom (England)	Orthoptera indet. (105966)
Berriasian	145.0 - 139.8	United Kingdom (England)	Raphidium brephos (127481)
Late/Upper Aptian	122.46 - 113.0	Brazil (Ceará)	Araripephasma reliquum (217013) Eoproscopia reliquum (203297)
Early/Lower Cenomanian	99.6 - 93.5	Myanmar	Echinosomiscus primoticus (161726) Pseudoperla scapiforma, Elasmophasma stictum, Tumefactipes prolongates, Granosicorpes lirates, Leptophasma physematosa, Rhabdophasma arboreum, Tanaophasma applanatum, Elasmophasma longitubus, Breviala cretacea, Electroclavella genuina (165561) Pseudoperla scapiforma, Pseudoperla leptoclada, Tumefactipes prolongates, Pterophasma erromera, Meniscophasma erythrosticta (178121)
MP 11	48.6 - 40.4	Germany (Hessen)	Eophyllium messelensis (68475) Phasmatodea indet. (138656)
Uintan	46.2 - 39.7	USA (Oregon)	Eophasma oregonense, Eophasma minor, Eophasmina manchesteri (31715)
Priabonian	38.0 - 33.9	Poland	Pseudoperla sp., Pseudoperla lineata, Pseudoperla gracilipes, Archipseudophasmatidae subfamily 2, Archipseudophasma sp., Balticophasmatini indet., Balticophasma sp. (109625)
Priabonian	38.0 - 33.9	Russian Federation	Pseudoperla sp., Archipseudophasma sp., Balticophasma sp. (123419) Sucinophasmatinae indet. (152643)
Priabonian	38.0 - 33.9	Lithuania	Electrobaculum gracile (113470) Pseudoperla sp., Archipseudophasma sp., Balticophasmatini indet. (123767)
Priabonian	38.0 - 33.9	Germany (Halle)	Sucinophasmatinae indet. 2 (123910)
Priabonian	38.0 - 33.9	Russian Federation (Kaliningrad)	Archipseudophasma sp. (123764) Archipseudophasma sp., Balticophasmatini indet. (123760) Archipseudophasmatidae subfamily 2 (123771) Archipseudophasmatidae subfamily 2, Archipseudophasma sp., Balticophasma sp., Balticophasma lineata (123770) Archipseudophasmatidae subfamily 2, Archipseudophasmatinae indet., Archipseudophasma sp., Archipseudophasma phoenix, Balticophasma sp. (123773) Archipseudophasmatinae indet., Balticophasma sp., Balticophasma lineata (124275) Balticophasma sp. (167952) Dvergrphasma fafnir, Pseudoperla sleipnir (147612) Pseudoperla sp. (154633) Pseudoperla sp., Archipseudophasma sp. (154619) Pseudoperla sp., Archipseudophasmatidae indet., Archipseudophasmatidae subfamily 2, Archipseudophasmatinae indet., Archipseudophasma sp., Balticophasmatini indet., Balticophasma sp., Anareolatae indet. (124318) Pseudoperla sp., Archipseudophasmatidae indet., Archipseudophasmatinae indet., Balticophasma sp. (123766) Pseudoperla sp., Archipseudophasmatidae subfamily 2, Archipseudophasmatinae indet., Archipseudophasma phoenix, Balticophasmatini indet., Balticophasma sp., Anareolatae indet., Electrotimema carstengroehni, Sucinophasma blattodeophila (110735) Pseudoperla sp., Archipseudophasmatidae subfamily 2, Archipseudophasmatinae indet., Balticophasma sp., Anareolatae indet. (123909) Sucinophasmatinae indet. 1 (155982)
Chadronian	37.2 - 33.9	USA (Colorado)	Agathemera reclusa (106384)
Burdigalian - Langhian	20.44 - 13.82	Dominican Republic	Clonistria dominicana (134455)
Pliocene	5.333 - 2.588	USA (Arizona)	Calcibacunculus tenuis (152091)