Timema is a genus of relatively short-bodied, stout stick insects native to the far western United States. The genus was first described in 1895 by Samuel Hubbard Scudder, based on observations of the species Timema californicum. Compared to other stick insects (order Phasmatodea), the genus Timema is considered basal; that is, the earliest "branch" to diverge from the phylogenetic tree that includes all Phasmatodea. To emphasize this outgroup status, all stick insects not included in Timema are sometimes described as "Euphasmatodea."