Cherokia georgiana (Bollman, 1889)

Vasquez-Valverde, Luisa Fernanda & Marek, Paul E., 2022, Phylogenetic review of the millipede genus Cherokia Chamberlin, 1949 (Polydesmida, Xystodesmidae), ZooKeys 1106, pp. 141-163 : 141

Cherokia georgiana (Bollman, 1889)

Fontaria georgiana Bollman, 1889a: 344. MALE HT (United States National Museum, USNM). United States: Georgia, Bibb County.

Fontaria tallulah Bollman, 1889a: 344. FEMALE HT (USNM). United States: Georgia, Habersham County. Synonymized by Hoffman, 1950b: 23.

Mimuloria furcifer Chamberlin, 1940a: 282, fig. 1. MALE HT (USNM). United States: North Carolina, Buncombe County. Synonymized by Hoffman, 1950b: 23.

Mimuloria georgiana - Loomis 1943: 402.

Dynoria parvior Chamberlin, 1947: 10, fig. 4. MALE HT (USNM). United States: Georgia, Union County. Synonymized by Hoffman, 1950b: 23.

Cherokia georgiana - Chamberlin 1949 a: 3.

Cherokia georgiana georgiana Hoffman 1960: 240, figs 3d, 4e, 5a, 6, 7. syn. nov.

Mimuloria ducilla Chamberlin, 1939: 7, fig. 12. MALE HT (USNM). United States: North Carolina, Jackson County.

Mimuloria georgiana (nec Bollman, 1889) - sensu Loomis, 1943: 402.

Cherokia georgiana ducilla Hoffman 1960: 255, figs 3b-e, 4f, 5b, 6, 7. syn. nov.

Cherokia georgiana latassa Hoffman, 1960: 257, figs 3a, c, 4a-e, 5c, d, 7. MALE HT (USNM). United States: Tennessee, Warren County. syn. nov.

Note.

For a complete taxonomic listing, see Means et al. (2021b), Suppl. material 1.

Diagnosis.

Adults in the genus Cherokia are distinct from other rhysodesmine genera based on the following combination of characters: Body rings: dorsal surface of the metazonites with a noticeably wrinkly texture. Paranota horizontal and wide, with little downwards curvature, making the body appear flatter than other rhysodesmines. Gonopods: Telopodite sublinear in shape (Fig. 7 ), not distinctly curved or twisted as in the Apheloriini . Telopodite with a cingulum. Acropodite with its apex appearing flat and truncated. Telopodite with a long acicular prefemoral process; not a stout, curved prefemoral process nor wholly lacking as in the Apheloriini . Cyphopods: receptacle absent. Coloration: yellow to red hues in bimaculate, trimaculate and striped patterns (Fig. 10 ). Yellow trimaculate is the most frequent color morph (Fig. 1 ).

Figures

Figure 1. Cherokia georgiana (Bollman, 1889), the wrinkled flat-backed millipede. Dorsal view of the whole body of specimen MPE 04539 (Male, GA - White Co.) deposited in the Virginia Tech Insect Collection (VTEC). The image shows the more common coloration for the species and the prominent wrinkles of the cuticle.

Figure 7. Scanning electron micrograph of a Cherokia georgiana male gonopod. Medial view of specimen MPE 04252 (VTEC).

Figure 10. Coloration patterns observed in Cherokia Chamberlin, 1949. Bimaculate A MPE 01512 (NC-MAC) B MPE 04252 (GA-JAC) C MPE 02181 (TN-MOR), trimaculate D MPE 01508 (TN-SEV) E MPE 01225 (TN-VBU) F MPE 01227 (TN-VBU), and striped G MPE 00505 (NC-HIG) H MPE 04515 (SC-OCO) I MPE 00501 (NC-HIG). All specimens are from the VTEC. Scale bars 10 mm.