Nannopetalum

Shear, William A., 2003, The milliped family Trichopetalidae, Part 1: Introduction and Genera Trigenotyla Causey, Nannopetalum n. gen., and Causeyella n. gen. (Diplopoda: Chordeumatida, Cleidogonoidea), Zootaxa 321, pp. 1-36 : 13

Genus Nannopetalum , new

Type species: Nannopetalum pattersonorum , n. sp.

Included species: In addition to the type, N. vespertilio , n. sp., and N. fontis , n. sp.

Diagnosis: Like Trichopetalum , members of this genus have 28 segments in both sexes, but differ in the structure of the gonopods; the mesal branch of the angiocoxite shows complex branching. Species of Causeyella , Scoterpes and Trigenotyla all have 30 trunk segments.

Distribution: Known from localities in the Appalachian Piedmont in Virginia, North Carolina and Alabama.

Discussion: These small millipeds are easily overlooked by collectors; I would expect at least several more species to turn up as the Piedmont region is sampled more thoroughly by various extraction methods. While N. pattersonorum is found in forest litter of at least two distinct habitats and has eyes, the other two species, depigmented and eyeless, have been collected from caves.

Nannopetalum as now comprised may not be monophyletic; each species has its peculiarities and may be assigned later to as yet undiagnosed genera when we know more about the tiny chordeumatids of the region.

The fimbriae referred to in the descriptions below are exaggerations of the trichomes found on the anterior faces of the gonopods of other trichopetalids.