Oenomaea Hoffman 1964

Hennen, Derek A. & Shelley, Rowland M., 2015, A contribution on the milliped tribe Nannariini (Polydesmida: Xystodesmidae): Revalidation of Mimuloria Chamberlin 1928; identities of Fontaria oblonga C. L. Koch 1847, and Nannaria minor Chamberlin 1918; elucidation of the tribal range; and commentaries on Nannaria Chamberlin 1918, and Oenomaea Hoffman 1964, Insecta Mundi 2015 (418), pp. 1-21 : 17-19

Oenomaea Hoffman 1964

Oenomaea Hoffman 1964: 27–29 ; 1980: 159; 1999, 368. Shelley et al. 2000:115. Marek et al. 2014: 38.

Type- and only component species. Fontaria pulchella Bollman 1889a , by original designation. The type locality is Strawberry Plains, an unincorporated community on the bank of the Holston River that straddles the boundary between Jefferson, Knox, and Sevier cos., Tennessee.

Diagnosis. Acropodite with variably broad, medially directed solenomere around 2/3–3/4 length.

Remarks. Hoffman (1964) proposed Oenomaea for a male from Gordon Co. , Georgia, with a spatulate, subterminal solenomere and, because of somatic concordance, inexplicably concluded that it was conspecific with Fontaria pulchella some 240 km (150 mi) to the north-northeast. Bollman (1889a) proposed this name for two female nannariinines, now the syntypes, that are unidentifiable beyond tribe! We document a lengthy distribution for M. castanea ( Fig. 2 , red dots), but relatively complete ranges have not been reported for other Nannariini . Indeed, the little known about specific distributions in the tribe suggests that they are primarily restricted. Consequently, no plausible basis exists to assume conspecificity between nannariinine females and a somatically similar, geographically distant male! Hoffman (1964) even acknowledged as much, “…concordance in external features does not necessarily imply specific identity between millipeds, particularly of different sexes…” but then claimed that considering them such caused “no great harm,” “there can be no doubt” that they are congeneric, and that if emendation is ever required “…it will merely be necessary to provide a new specific name” for the Georgia male! Later, he ( Hoffman 1999) retreated, noting that O. pulchella had been reported, “perhaps dubiously,” from Georgia. Hoffman (1964) correctly noted that pulchella must always refer to the form represented by the Tennessee females, but since he specifically designated it type-species of Oenomaea , the genus will also refer to the Tennessee form if the Georgia male is not congeneric; it will then require both a new generic and a new specific names. Superficially similar body forms among species that are not congeneric are widespread in Xystodesmidae , so this “worst case scenario” seems likely for what is now O. pulchella . Resolving this convoluted tangle requires topotypical males of F. pulchella as close to Strawberry Plains as possible, and suitable ones probably already exist in preserved collections. Adding to the probability that the “worst case scenario” will result is the fact that most nannariinine males in that region of Tennessee lack solenomeres and are readily accommodated by Nannaria . Consequently, if this is true for topotypical males of F. pulchella , not only will the Georgia male require two new names but the melodious Greek name Oenomaea will fall in synonymy under Nannaria and vanish from nomenclature! We think that separate generic status is appropriate for nannariinines with subterminal solenomeres and note that the potential synonyms, N. morrisoni Hoffman 1948 and N. shenandoa Hoffman 1949 , fit in such a taxon, but it would be imprudent to propose one before the “ Oenomaea tangle” is fully resolved. One can only assume continued existence of present concepts, so we report the following locality for “ O. pulchella ” based on an Alabama male that nearly exactly matches Hoffman’s gonopodal drawings of that from Georgia. It constitutes a new state for the species and extends the generic and specific ranges across the Tennessee River.

Alabama: Limestone Co., Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge, Rockhouse Cave, M, 2 April 1968, A. W. Dobson, Jr. (NCSM) New State Record for both the genus and species.

Figures

Figure 2. Distribution of Mimuloria (colored symbols) with peripheral tribal records (black and green stars). Dots, castanea group. Red, M. castanea; green, M. missouriensis; blue, M. davidcauseyi. Diamonds, dilatata group. Solid orange, M. d. dilatata; open orange, M. dilatata sigmoidea; pink, M. rhysodesmoides; violet question mark, Mimuloria sp. The course of the Missouri River across Missouri is shown in light blue.