Nannaria minor Chamberlin, 1918

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 minor Chamberlin, 1918 Figs 106 , 107 Vernacular name: "The First Twisted-Claw Millipede"

Nannaria minor Chamberlin, 1918: 124. Attems 1938: 199. Brimley 1938: 499. Chamberlin and Hoffman 1958: 41. Hoffman 1964: 11. Wray 1967: 152. Hoffman 1999: 367. Shelley 2000: 196. Marek et al. 2014: 37. Means et al. 2021: 16, S71.

Material examined.

United States - North Carolina • 1 ♂; Ashe County, West Jefferson, Mount Jefferson State Natural Area , lower loop of Rhododendron Trail ; 36.4032°N, - 81.4646°W; elev. 1388 m); 10 Oct. 2018; hand collected; D. Hennen leg.; VTEC MPE04388 • 1 ♀; same collection data as preceding; VTEC MPE04389 • 3 ♂♂; Mitchell County , Little Switzerland, Grassy Creek Falls; 35.8561°N, - 82.0876°W; elev. 995 m; hand collected; D. Hennen leg.; VTEC MPE04391 -93 • 2 ♀♀; same collection data as preceding; VTEC, MPE04394 , 4395 • 6 ♂♂; Mitchell County, Crabtree Meadows Rec. Area , B.R.P.; 35.8996°N, - 82.2147°W; elev. 1036-1097 m; 30 Oct. 1971; R. Hoffman, Knight leg.; VMNH NAN0200 • 1 ♂; Mitchell County , 1000' S of Sam’s Gap, on U.S. Hy. 23; 35.9385°N, - 82.5632°W; 2 Aug. 1962; R. Hoffman leg.; VMNH NAN0202 • 1 ♂; Mitchell County, Bakersville, around garage at home; 36.0156°N, - 82.1587°W; 13 Feb. 1976; D. Terrel leg.; NCSM NAN0554 • 1 ♂; Mitchell County , summit of Roan Mtn., in spruce-fir forest; 36.1039°N, - 82.1219°W; elev. 1829 m; 24 July 1975; R. Shelley, J. Clamp leg.; NCSM NAN0502 • 4 ♂♂ ♀♀; Watauga County , 2.8 WNW Blowing Rock, Julian Price Memorial Park, off Blue Ridge Pkwy.; 36.1422°N, - 81.7456°W; 9 Sep. 1973; R. Shelley leg.; NCSM NAN0520; SCAU - Tennessee • 1 ♀; Carter County , northeast of Hampton , Watauga Point Rec Area , trail from parking lot; 36.3199°N, - 82.0834°W; elev. 632 m; 12 June 2018; hand collected; D. Hennen leg.; VTEC MPE04060 • 1 ♂; Carter County , Hampton , Cherokee National Forest , Laurel Creek Falls Trail; 36.2652°N, - 82.1235°W; elev. 768 m; 12 June 2018; hand collected; D. Hennen leg.; VTEC MPE04074 • 3 ♀♀; Carter County , Roan Mountain , Roan Mountain State Park , Blue 2 Trail; 36.1674°N, - 82.0984°W; elev. 872 m; 12 June 2018; D. Hennen leg.; VTEC MPE04080 -82 • 3 ♂♂; Carter County , The Laurels Rec Area , Cherokee National Forest ; 36.2476°N, - 82.2696°W; elev. 584 m; 13 June 2018; D. Hennen leg.; VTEC MPE04089 , 4090, 4226 • 2 ♀♀; same collection data as preceding; VTEC, MPE04091 , 4092 • 1 ♂; Carter County , south of Alizabethton , at pull off on Route 362; 36.2651°N, - 82.2300°W; elev. 620 m; 25 May 2016; hand collected; J. Means, D. Hennen leg.; VTEC MPE01249 • 8 ♀♀; same collection data as preceding; VTEC MPE01252 , 1253, 1296, 1302, 1303, 1313, 1314, 2061 • 1 ♂; Carter County , Doe R. Bluff, 1 mile NW of Hampton; 36.2944°N, - 82.1855°W; 3 May 1951; L. Hubricht leg.; VMNH NAN0293 • 1 ♂; Loudon County , Lenoir City, basement of house; 35.7972°N, - 84.2561°W; 10 Dec. 1971; W. Tolbert leg.; VMNH NAN0144 • 1 ♀; Unicoi County , Unicoi, Limestone Cove Rec Area ; 36.1742°N, - 82.2982°W; elev. 697 m; hand collected; D. Hennen leg.; VTEC MPE04103 • 3 ♀♀; Unicoi County , Erwin, Cherokee National Forest , Rock Creek Falls Rec Area , Rock Creek Falls Trail; 36.1389°N, - 82.3468°W; elev. 704 m; 13 June 2018; hand collected; D. Hennen leg.; VTEC MPE04107 , 4108, 4231 • 2 ♂♂; Unicoi County , 10.7 air km from Erwin, Cherokee National Forest , beginning of trail to Sill Creek Falls , off Clark Creek Road; 36.1281°N, - 82.5340°W; elev. 559; 14 June 2018; hand collected; D. Hennen leg.; VTEC MPE04127 , 4128 • 3 ♀♀; Unicoi County , Flag Pond, Rocky Fork State Park , Rocky Fork Trail; 36.0482°N, - 82.5615°W; elev. 740 m; hand collected; D. Hennen leg.; VTEC MPE4133-35 • 1 ♂; Unicoi County , 3 SW Erwin, Unaka Springs Rd. , 1 mi jct. Chestoa Rd. ; 36.0931°N, - 82.4396°W; 1 Apr. 2002; A. Gagan leg.; NCSM NAN0476 • 2 ♀♀; Unicoi County , Erwin, Cherokee National Forest , Rock Creek Falls Rec Area , Rock Creek Falls Trail; 36.1389°N, - 82.3468°W; 13 June 2018; hand collected; D. Hennen leg.; VTEC MPE04108 , 4231 • 1 ♀; Washington County , Johnson City , Buffalo Mountain Park , White Rock Lower Loop ; 36.2770°N, - 82.3461°W; elev. 717 m; 13 June 2018; D. Hennen leg.; VTEC MPE04100 . For detailed collection data see Suppl. material 7 .

Diagnosis.

Adult males of Nannaria minor are distinct from other Nannaria , and the nearby N. aenigma , based on the following combination of characters: Gonopods. Gonopodal acropodite gently curving medially throughout with extremely short, blunt distal zone, not with serpentine distal zone as in N. aenigma . Acropodite with small, tooth-like medial flange near apex (Fig. 106A , red arrow), not with lobed medial flange as in N. mcelroyorum sp. nov. Prefemur with long, thin, acicular prefemoral process slightly curving laterally, not sinuous, cephalically directed as in N. mcelroyorum sp. nov. Prefemoral spine small, curving cephalically (Fig. 106B , red triangle), without secondary hump as in N. mcelroyorum sp. nov. Telopodite basal zone height <1/2 length of acropodite, not ca. 1/2 length as in N. mcelroyorum sp. nov., or ca. 1/6 length as in N. aenigma . Color. Tergites with hot pink/orange paranotal spots (Fig. 107 ). Light brown to black background. Dorsum of collum smooth with orange margin.

Measurements.

♂ (VTEC, MPE01249): BL = 31.8, CW = 3.9, IW = 2.1, ISW = 0.9, B11W = 4.6, B11H = 3.1; ♀ (VTEC, MPE01253): BL = 31.2, CW = 3.7, IW = 2.1, ISW = 1.0, B11W = 5.1, B11H = 3.5.

Variation.

Notable variation found in N. minor is the length and general directionality of the prefemoral process; a specimen collected from the summit of Roan Mountain in North Carolina (NAN0502) has a short and somewhat curving prefemoral process, while specimens from Sam’s Gap in Tennessee (NAN0202) have long prefemoral processes that do not cross the acropodite in the anterior view, and the specimen illustrated by Hoffman (1964: 32) has a medially directed prefemoral tip.

Distribution.

Known from the Southern Appalachians, primarily along the northern half of the North Carolina and Tennessee border (North Carolina: Ashe, Madison, Mitchell, Watauga, and Yancey counties; Tennessee: Carter, Loudon, and Unicoi counties; Virginia: Carroll County, Suppl. material 7; Fig. 126 ). Distribution area: 5,671 km2; status: SRE.

Ecology.

Individuals of Nannaria minor have been collected from mesic deciduous forests, often dominated by maple, oak, hemlock, and rhododendron, typically under 1-2 cm soil and/or leaf litter.

Etymology.

Chamberlin (1918) gave no etymology for his name, N. minor , though it is reasonable to assume that he named both the genus and the species for its small size in relation to other xystodesmids. Why Chamberlin would feel the need to reiterate the small nature of the species is unknown. One possibility is that Chamberlin may have chosen the specific name after the Latin word Nannaria minor for ‘smaller’ to differentiate it from a second species he described in the same paper N. media Chamberlin, 1918 (now Boraria stricta ) which was slightly larger than N. minor , but not as large as the third species he described, N. infesta (now Howellaria infesta ). Thus, Nannaria minor was the smallest of the three species, Nannaria media (from the Latin medi - meaning middle) was the middle-sized species, and Nannaria infesta was the largest. If this hypothesis is true it is a mystery to the authors why Chamberlin broke the pattern with Nannaria infesta , though the fungal infestation of the Nannaria infesta type may have offered up too good of a species epithet to pass up.

Type locality.

United States, Tennessee, Burbank.

Notes.

In the original publication, Chamberlin (1918, 125) mentions that two specimens were collected by R. Thaxter: a male, which Chamberlin designates as the type, and a female.

Figures

Figure 106. Nannaria minor ♂ (VTEC, MPE 01249) left gonopod A anterior view; red arrow indicates tooth-like medial flange B medial view C posterior view; red triangle indicates cephalically curved prefemoral spine. Scale bar: 0.5 mm.

Figure 107. Nannaria minor ♂ (VTEC, MPE 01249) coloration. Scale bar: 4.0 mm.

Figure 126. Distribution map of Nannaria minor species group collection localities in the central Appalachians.