The tribe Palarini, including the genera Mesopalarus Brauns and Palarus Latreille, is redefined and revised for the first time. Mesopalarini Lomholdt, 1985, are synonymized with Palarini Schrottky, 1909. A cladistic analysis of the tribe is performed, and a key to species of Palarus is provided. In Palarus, one new species is described by Pulawski: arabicus (Saudi Arabia), and the following five by Pulawski and Prentice: furtivus (Namibia, South Africa), gao (Burkina Faso, Mali), jaxartes (Kazakhstan. Turkmenistan), gynaecotrichus (Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Togo), and nama (Namibia, South Africa), while Palarus handlirschi var. nigrior Arnold, 1923, is raised to a subspecies of maculatus and Palarus handlirschi var. occidentalis Arnold to full species rank. Palarus almeriensis Gayubo, Asis, and Tormos, 1992 is reduced to a subspecies of ambustus Klug, 1845. The following are new synonyms in Palarus: aurantiacus Radoszkowski, 1893, spinolae de Saussure, 1854, spinolae niger de Beaumont, 1949, and leleji Nemkovy, 2005 = fulviventris Latreille, 1812; beaumonti Bytinski- Salz, 1957, and incertus Radoszkowski, 1893 = funerarius F. Morawitz, 1889; fabius Nurse, 1903 = laetus Klug, 1845; fortistriolatus Cameron, 1907 = variegatus (Fabricius, 1781); handlirschi Brauns, 1911 = maculatus Dahlbom, 1845; hastatifrons africanus de Beaumont, 1949, and hastatifrons oceanicus de Beaumont = hastatifrons Turner, 1919; multiguttatus Arnold, 1960, rothschildi Magretti, 1908, and rothschildi croesus Arnold, 1951 = oneili Brauns, 1899; rochei Guichard, 1988 = bisignatus F. Morawitz, 1890.