As a form taxon, the parataxon Polystoechotites was not given a formal taxonomic description, and Archibald and Makarkin acknowledged it would contain an artificial grouping of species, rather than true monophyletic clade.

[5] The coastal space has its maximum width near the wing base before shrinking to its narrowest near the junction of the subcosta (Sc) and radius (R1) veins, apically of which it widens out again.

The specific name barksdalae was selected as a matronym recognizing Barksdales extensive and valuable contributions, as both collections manager and Curator of Stonerose, in furthering Republic, Washington paleontology.

[5] The referred specimen shows a costal area that is wide basally, narrows near the juncture of the Sc and R1 veins, and then flairs out slightly again, unlike the holotype.

They also noted the similarity between the species and the living Fontecilla graphicus found in Chile based on the color pattering, general venation, and gross wing shape.

The coloration is composed of variegated light and dark patches in the distal costal space plus apical area of the wing.

In the known basal costal space the variegation transitions to fully darkened membrane, while the known radial, R1 and subcostal areas are light toned.

The fossil preserves the apical section of a hind-wing that was collected from the "Corner Lot site" in Republic by Standley Lewis.

Archibald and Makarkin chose the species name lewisi as a patronym honoring Lewis for his role in pioneering insect research at Republic, and for his wider contributions to palaeoentomology.

No other polystoechotid lacewing genera show this set of characters, and they are augmented by the less distinctly curved pre-apical margin of the wing, which is more pronounced in Palaeopsychops.

Archibald and Makarkin deemed the crossveination characters insufficient to name a new genus, but enough to exclude the species from Palaeopsychops.

The Rs vein has 31 branches, 28 of which are each unforked until passing the outer gradate series of crossveins, at which point they dichotomously fork several times each.

A" is known from an isolated fore-wing fragment plus an almost full and well preserved fore wing, both of which were recovered from the Coldwater Beds Quilchena site.

The full wing shows a distinct triangular outline due to its unusually broad profile that distinguishes it from the similarly color patterned species Palaeopsychops dodgeorum and P. marringerae.

[7] However, by the time Archibald and Makarkin were preparing to study fossils for their 2006 paper, the specimen had bee lost, and thus the descriptive work for the species diagnosis was accomplished based on examination of existing photographs.

A well developed outer gradate series of crossveins is present, and numerous additional cross veins are scattered in the radial space.

B" is known from a single poorly fossilized specimen found at Quilchena that consists of a partial pair of overlaid fore-wings.

[5] The majority of Polystoechotites fossils have been recovered from the Eocene Okanagan Highlands in Central British Columbia and northeast central Washington state, with three named species from the Klondike Mountain Formation of Washington, and a further two unnamed species from the Coldwater Beds Quilchena site.

All three Okanagan Highlands sites represent upland lake systems that were surrounded by a warm temperate ecosystem with nearby volcanism.

[8] The highlands likely had a mesic upper microthermal to lower mesothermal climate, in which winter temperatures rarely dropped low enough for snow, and which were seasonably equitable.

The CLAMP results after multiple linear regressions for Republic gave a mean annual temperature of approximately 8.0 °C (46.4 °F), with the LMA giving 9.2 ± 2.0 °C (48.6 ± 3.6 °F).

[9] The Florissant Formation is composed of successive lake deposits resulting from a volcanic debris flow damming a valley.

[13][14] The Florissant paleoforest surrounding the lake has been described as similar to modern southeastern North America, with a number of taxa represented that are now found in the subtropics to tropics and confined to the old world.

Harry MacGinitie (1953) suggested a warm temperate climate based on the modern biogeographic relatives of the biota found in the formation.