''Cherokia'' Chamberlin, 1949 is a genus consisting of a single species, ''Cherokia georgiana'' (Bollman, 1889). Commonly known as the wrinkled flat-backed millipede, this species belongs to the order
Polydesmida
Polydesmida (from the Greek ''poly'' "many" and ''desmos'' "bond") is the largest order of millipedes, with more than 5,000 species, including all the millipedes reported to produce hydrogen cyanide (HCN). This order is also the most diverse of ...
and the family
Xystodesmidae. It inhabits forests in the southeastern United States, particularly those with
hemlock,
maple
''Acer'' is a genus of trees and shrubs commonly known as maples. The genus is placed in the soapberry family Sapindaceae.Stevens, P. F. (2001 onwards). Angiosperm Phylogeny Website. Version 9, June 2008 nd more or less continuously updated si ...
,
tulip poplar
''Liriodendron tulipifera''—known as the tulip tree, American tulip tree, tulipwood, tuliptree, tulip poplar, whitewood, fiddletree, lynn-tree, hickory-poplar, and yellow-poplar—is the North American representative of the two-species genus ...
,
rhododendron
''Rhododendron'' (; : ''rhododendra'') is a very large genus of about 1,024 species of woody plants in the Ericaceae, heath family (Ericaceae). They can be either evergreen or deciduous. Most species are native to eastern Asia and the Himalayan ...
,
cedar
Cedar may refer to:
Trees and plants
*''Cedrus'', common English name cedar, an Old-World genus of coniferous trees in the plant family Pinaceae
* Cedar (plant), a list of trees and plants known as cedar
Places United States
* Cedar, Arizona
...
, and
spruce-fir trees.
A 2022 study conducted a molecular
phylogenetic
In biology, phylogenetics () is the study of the evolutionary history of life using observable characteristics of organisms (or genes), which is known as phylogenetic inference. It infers the relationship among organisms based on empirical dat ...
analysis and confirmed that ''Cherokia'' includes only one species, ''C. georgiana''. This study found no evidence supporting the previously proposed subspecies based on morphological data. Instead, it revealed that ''C. georgiana'' exhibits significant morphological variation, specifically in characters such as the shape of the
paranota and body size. These variables correlate with geographical distribution and elevation but not with phylogeny. The coloration of ''C. georgiana'' is highly diverse and does not align with either geography or phylogeny.
''Cherokia'' is closely related to the genus ''Pleuroloma'' and belongs to the tribe Rhysodesmini.
It stands apart from other genera of Xystodesmidae due to distinct characteristics, including a wrinkly texture on its dorsal surface, horizontally wide paranota with minimal downward curvature, a straight telopodite on its
gonopod
Gonopods are specialized appendages of various arthropods used in reproduction or egg-laying. In males, they facilitate the transfer of sperm from male to female during mating, and thus are a type of intromittent organ. In crustaceans and millipe ...
(as opposed to the curved or twisted form found in the Apheloriini), a long icepick-like prefemoral process on the telopodite, and the absence of a receptacle in females'
cyphopods. The coloration of ''C. georgiana'' ranges from yellow to red and exhibits patterns such as two-spotted, three-spotted, and striped, with the three-spotted yellow pattern being the most common.
References
External links
Observations of millipedes of the genus ''Cherokia georgiana'' from the Virginia Tech Insect Collection
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Polydesmida