Ptyoiulus montanus ( Cope 1869 ) Shelley & Smith, 2016

Shelley, Rowland M. & Smith, Jamie M., 2016, Parajulid milliped studies XII: Initial assessment of Ptyoiulus Cook 1895 and neotype designations for Julus impressus Say 1821 and J. montanus Cope 1869 (Diplopoda: Julida), Insecta Mundi 2016 (522), pp. 1-21 : 15-16

Ptyoiulus montanus ( Cope 1869) , New Combination

Fig. 6 , 15–22 .

Julus montanus Cope 1869: 181 .

Parajulus ectenes Bollman 1887a: 617–618 ; 1893: 202. Brimley 1938: 498. Chamberlin and Hoffman 1958: 142. Hoffman 1999: 169. New Synonymy.

Ptyoiulus ectenes: Filka and Shelley 1980: 12–13 , fig. 5.

Ptyoiulus coveanus Chamberlin 1943: 10–11 , fig. 24–25. Chamberlin and Hoffman 1958: 142. Hoffman 1999: 162. Shelley 2000b: 183. Snyder 2008: 20 . New Synonymy.

Aniulus ectenes: Wray 1967: 153 .

Ptyoiulus sp. : Shelley 1978: 43, 48, fig. 8–9 (list, account).

Type specimen. Male neotype and numerous male and female paraneotypes ( FSCA) taken by A. S. Pearse, 24 September 1952, in Duke Forest, Durham Co., North Carolina.

Diagnosis. Calyx of anterior gonopod coxal process ( Fig. 6 , 15–19 ) three-sided, open caudad, upright and cupulate, coaxial with stem, lateral and medial lamellae joined by smaller one anteriorly, margins usually smooth.

Variation. Somatic features vary as in P. impressus . On the anterior gonopods ( Fig. 15–19 ), the calyx is subcontinuous anteriad, with a gap in the lamina that varies from deep to shallow. The thicknesses of the lateral and medial lamellae vary (compare fig. 15–16, of the males from Montgomery Co., Virginia, and Tishomingo Co., Mississippi, respectively) as do the terminal configurations, particularly that of the latter. The calyx tilts slightly laterad in a male from Craighead Co., Arkansas ( Fig. 18 ). The posterior gonopods ( Fig. 20–22 ) also vary as in P. impressus but form longer and narrower arcs, and the tip is prolonged in the male from Montgomery Co., Virginia ( Fig. 22 ), which also has a longer, broader, and lobe-like flange.

Ecology. Labels with samples carry the following habitat characterizations: “bottomland hardwoods,” “under decaying pine tree bark,” “woods, pitfall traps,” “large aggregation near light on carport,” “pitfall traps in oaks,” “under dead pig,” “wooded hillside,” “in ravine,” “oak-maple litter,” and “under bark of decaying pine tree.”

Distribution. All localities fall roughly between 37 o 42’ and 33 o 46’ N, a mere four latitudinal degrees; by contrast, the distribution of P. impressus covers around 15 o of latitude. Ptyoiulus montanus extends, north/south, from southeastern Illinois and western Virginia to east-central South Carolina, northcentral Georgia, northwestern Alabama, and northeastern Mississippi and Arkansas, an area of some 584.0 km (365.0 mi) north-south, and 1,160.0 km (725.0 mi), east-west. Longitudinally, P. montanus ranges from the Atlantic Ocean along southeastern North Carolina to west of the Mississippi River in northeastern Arkansas adjacent to the Missouri “bootheel.” An older species that is apparently being displaced by a younger and more successful congener, P. montanus seems to have already been reduced to a host of relictual populations in Virginia, central Tennessee, and Georgia. The one Alabama record is a logical extension of the moderate-sized population in northeastern Mississippi, and minute, point populations survive in southeastern Illinois and northeastern Arkansas,

The largest population of purely P. montanus occupies the central Carolinas and extends to the coast in southeastern North Carolina; no authentic males of P. impressus have been taken within this area. The second largest is in northcentral/northeastern Mississippi and northwestern Alabama, and if the female samples from Chickasaw and Obion Cos., Tennessee, are P. montanus , they would tend to connect the Mississippi population to that along the Ohio River in southeastern Illinois, where P. impressus also occurs.

A sizeable population inhabits the Great Smoky and Blue Ridge Mountains of western North Carolina, extending from easternmost Tennessee to westernmost South Carolina, which intermingles tightly with an equally large one of P. impressus . While the Gatlinburg area and the Visitor’s Center and administrative offices of the GSMNP seem to be in primarily P. montanus territory, the two species otherwise occur sympatrically and essentially side-by-side along the North Carolina / Tennessee border from the southern GSMNP to the Black Mountains in Mitchell and Yancey cos., North Carolina. We interpret this mutual occurrence as an area of active displacement, and one must examine every individual male for reliable determinations.

Published records. Illinois: Illinois in general ( Chamberlin and Hoffman 1958, Hoffman 1999). Gallatin Co. ( Causey 1952a). Hardin Co. ( Causey 1952a). Pope Co. ( Causey 1952a). North Carolina: North Carolina in general ( Bollman 1893, Hoffman 1999). Brunswick Co. ( Shelley 2000b). Buncombe Co. ( Shelley 2000b). Chatham Co. ( Shelley 1978, 2000b). Cleveland / Gaston Cos., Kings Mountain Region ( Filka and Shelley 1980, Shelley 2000b). Durham Co., Durham ( Causey 1952a). Halifax Co. ( Shelley 1978, 2000b). Haywood Co. ( Shelley 2000b); GSMNP, Cataloochee, Purchase Knob ( Snyder 2008). Henderson Co. ( Shelley 2000b). Johnston Co. ( Shelley 1978, 2000b). Moore Co. ( Shelley 1978, 2000b). Nash Co. ( Shelley 1978, 2000b). Orange Co. ( Shelley 1978, 2000b); Chapel Hill (Bollman 1887, Brimley 1938, Chamberlin and Hoffman 1958, Wray 1967. Filka and Shelley 1980, Hoffman 1999, Shelley 2000b). Polk Co. ( Shelley 2000b). Rockingham Co. ( Shelley 2000b). Swain Co. ( Shelley 2000b). Wake Co. ( Shelley 1978, 2000b); Raleigh ( Causey 1952a). Warren Co. ( Shelley 1978, 2000b). Wayne Co. ( Shelley 2000b). Tennessee: Tennessee in general ( Chamberlin and Hoffman 1958, Hoffman 1999). Cocke Co., GSMNP, Albright Cove ( Snyder 2008). Davidson/Sumner/Robertson Cos., Goodlettsville ( Causey 1952a). Sevier Co., GSMNP, Greenbrier Cove, Indian Gap, Twin Creeks ( Chamberlin 1943, Chamberlin and Hoffman 1958, Hoffman 1999, Snyder 2008). Virginia: Giles Co. ( Cope 1869) . Montgomery Co. ( Cope 1869, Hoffman 1999).

Figures

Figures 5–6. Ptyoiulus spp. anterior gonopods, caudal views. 5) P. impressus. 6) P. montanus. at, anterior gonopod telopodite; ca, calyx; cp, coxal process stem.

Figures 15–22. Gonopodal variation in P. montanus. 15) Distal extremity of right anterior gonopod of male from Montgomery Co., Virginia, caudal view. 16) The same of male from Tishomingo Co., Mississippi. 17) The same of male from DeKalb Co., Georgia. 18) The same of male from Craighead Co., Arkansas. 19) The same of male from Clay Co., Arkansas. 20) Right posterior gonopod of male from Mason Co., Tennessee, lateral view. 21) The same of male from Tishomingo Co., Mississippi. 22) The same of male from Montgomery Co., Virginia. Abbreviations as in Fig. 5–6.