A contribution on the neglected milliped genus Apheloria Chamberlin 1921 (Diplopoda: Polydesmida: Xystodesmidae/-inae: Apheloriini): Neotype designation and description of Julus virginiensis Drury 1770.

Abstract

A trimaculate male of the diplopod genus Apheloria Chamberlin (Polydesmida: Xystodesmidae/-inae: Apheloriini) from 1.3 km (0.8 mi) west of McKenney, Dinwiddie County (Co.), Virginia, is designated the Neotype of Julus virginiensis Drury 1770, thereby stabilizing the earliest name for a North American milliped and authenticating its prior assignment to this taxon. The existing concept of Apheloria is accepted in the absence of a revisionary treatment, and a modern description of A. v. virginiensis with gonopod drawings and color photos is provided. Drury’s original account and his letter to the Virginian who sent him the original specimens are quoted verbatim to eliminate future library searches. The specific name has been associated with at least three genera, and its confusing history is clarified by summarizing works in each. Authentic localities, mapped to the extent now possible, reveal a distribution south of the James River in piedmont and coastal Virginia that extends southwestward to the Blue Ridge foothills and at least as far south in North Carolina (NC) as Greensboro, the “Triangle” (Raleigh/Durham/ Chapel Hill region), and Albemarle Sound in the east. Based on the holotypes, A. aspila and A. tigana, both by Chamberlin, are placed in synonymy under A. v. virginiensis (syns. nov.), and although its status is still under review, A. waccamana Chamberlin, whose type locality is Lake Waccamaw, Columbus Co., in southeastern NC, may be the correct name for today’s A. tigana. All samples so labeled must be reexamined for misidentifications of A. v. virginiensis.