Nannaria oblonga (Koch, 1847)

Means, Jackson C., Hennen, Derek A. & Marek, Paul E., 2021, A revision of the minor species group in the millipede genus Nannaria Chamberlin, 1918 (Diplopoda, Polydesmida, Xystodesmidae), ZooKeys 1030, pp. 1-180 : 1

Nannaria oblonga (Koch, 1847) Fig. 110 Vernacular Name: "The Pennsylvania Twisted-Claw Millipede"

Fontaria oblonga C.L. Koch, 1847: 142. C.L. Koch 1863: 73-74, fig. 64. Attems 1898: 263. Attems 1938: 167. Chamberlin and Hoffman 1958: 55.

Nannaria oblonga : Hoffman 1999: 367. Marek et al. 2014: 37. Means et al. 2021: S71.

Material examined.

Syntype: United States - Pennsylvania • ♂; from an unknown locality in “Pennsylvania”; MFN .

Diagnosis.

Adult males of Nannaria oblonga are distinct from other Nannaria , the possibly sympatric N. fowleri , and the nearby N. shenandoa , based on the following combination of characters: Gonopods. Gonopodal acropodite gently curving medially before apex, not strongly curved as in N. shenandoa . Distal zone short, simple, curving smoothly posteriorly, with a crochet-like appearance (Fig. 110A , red triangle). Distal zone not directed medially as in N. fowleri , or elongated, with flanges as in N. shenandoa . Telopodite basal zone ca. 1/3 length of acropodite, not ca. 1/4 as in N. shenandoa . Prefemur with prefemoral process thin, ca. 1/2 length of acropodite, curving medially to parallel acropodite near tip, not elongated, 1/3 length of acropodite and paralleling acropodite majority of length as in N. fowleri , or curving laterally as in N. shenandoa . Prefemoral spine lacking, not pronounced as tooth-like structure as in N. fowleri . Color. Koch (1847) describes N. oblonga as being dark brown with white paranota.

Measurements.

The type is too fragmented for accurate measurement.

Variation.

No known variation.

Distribution.

Known only from the type locality (Pennsylvania, Fig. 127 ). Distribution area: N/A; status: MRE.

Ecology.

Koch (1847) does not mention any ecological notes in his description of the species.

Etymology.

Koch (1847) does not give an etymology for the name oblonga in his 1863 publication, he goes into more detail about the syntype, and describes the species as “länglich,” meaning elongated or oblong in German. It is therefore reasonable to assume that the name is in reference to the general oblong shape of Nannaria .

Note on clade membership.

No specimens of Nannaria oblonga were collected for this study, and while N. oblonga shares some gonopodal characters with N. tenuis sp. nov. (such as the caudally-directed acropodite tip and a lack of a prefemoral spine) N. oblonga is geographically disjunct from the Nannaria ignis clade, to which N. tenuis sp. nov. belongs. Due to a lack of molecular data and a paucity of shared morphological characters, clade membership is uncertain.

Type locality.

United States, Pennsylvania; MFN.

Notes.

In the original publication, Koch (1847: 142) did not designate a type or mention the number of specimens he examined and later on, Koch (1863) described both a male and female specimen in greater detail. The specimen in the MFN collection was labeled “Holotypus.” Without knowing the number of specimens Koch examined for his original description of the species, we cannot be sure if it is a holotype by monotypy, and hence refrain from designating a lectotype.

Figures

Figure 110. Nannaria oblonga syntype ♂ (MFN) left gonopod A anterior view; red triangle indicates crochet-like acropodite tip B medial view C posterior view. Scale bar: 0.5 mm.

Figure 127. Distribution map of Nannaria minor species group collection localities in the northern Appalachians.