[4][5] The name is derived from the Greek word pachys, meaning "thick, stout", and refers to the rostellum.

[6] In Genera Orchidacearum volume 2, Pachites and Satyrium constitute the subtribe Satyriinae of the tribe Diseae.

[7] After that work was published in 2001, molecular phylogenetic studies showed that Pachites does not form a clade with Satyrium.

In a classification of orchids that was published in 2015, Pachites, Disa, and Huttonaea constitute the subtribe Disinae of the tribe Orchideae.

[9] This circumscription of Disinae, however, was done provisionally, to avoid creating new subtribes before further studies could determine, with increased certainty, the true affinities of these three genera.