Classification and identification
Female Niveaphasma annulata from near the Blue Mountains, Otago. Image - T. Buckley
Following Günther (1953), the New Zealand stick insects are placed into the subfamilies Phasmatinae and Pachymorphinae.
Phasmatodea: Phasmatidae: Phasmatinae: Acanthoxylini
- Acanthoxyla Uvarov
- Argosarchus Hutton
- Clitarchus Stål
- Pseudoclitarchus Salmon
- Tepakiphasma Buckley & Bradler
Phasmatodea: Phasmatidae: Pachymorphinae: Pachymorphinini
- Asteliaphasma Jewell & Brock
- Micrarchus Carl
- Niveaphasma Jewell & Brock
- Spinotectarchus Salmon
- Tectarchus Salmon
Our studies (Buckley et al. 2009; 2010b) have shown this classification to be inconsistent with the phylogeny of the genera. All of the New Zealand genera, with the exception of Spinotectarchus form a monophyletic group and are related to species from New Caledonia (Buckley et al. 2010b). Stick insects can be identified by the arrangement of body spines, body size, structure of the male and female terminalia and the morphology of the egg.