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Brachoria flammipes Marek 2010

The Fire-footed Mimic Millipede

Paul Marek
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Containing group: Brachoria

Characteristics

Brachoria flammipes individuals are about 44.6 mm long and 9.9 mm wide (females 48.6 mm X 10.7 mm).  Color: Striped yellow (1.25Y 8/14, shown above) or red; and striped yellow (10YR 7/12) lateral paranotal spots but with orange (7.5YR 6/12) medial metatergal stripes.

 

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Brachoria flammipes genitalia - left male gonopodal acropodite (with setae removed): (Left) medial view and (Right) magnified apical view. © Paul Marek

 

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Brachoria flammipes, striped red color morph. © Paul Marek

 

Habitat

Brachoria flammipes specimens were collected during the evening (19:00) in a moist forest comprising maple, hemlock, dogwood, sycamore, birch, and tulip poplar trees.  Individuals were found on a north-facing slope beneath layers of decomposing leaf material on the side of a trail above (south) Cawood Branch.  Other xystodesmids encountered co-occurring with B. flammipes were Brachoria splendida, Apheloria virginiensis corrugata and a species of Nannaria.  Note:  Individuals of B. flammipes may be confused in the field with B. splendida and A. virginiensis corrugata due to similarity in color patterns.  Nannaria is easy to distinguish; it has an olive drab color and a body length ~3/4 that of B. flammipes.

Distribution

Known only from the type locality in Leslie Co., Kentucky.  The closest known Brachoria species, B. splendida, co-occurs with B. flammipes at Cawood Recreation Site.  Brachoria gracilipes occurs about 17 km E in the town of Pine Mountain, Harlan County, Kentucky.

Conservation status

Brachoria flammipes is threatened by habitat loss due to agriculture (especially growing demand for paper products), coal mining, development, and the invasion of exotic species.

References

Marek P.E. 2010. A revision of the Appalachian millipede genus Brachoria Chamberlin, 1939 (Polydesmida: Xystodesmidae: Apheloriini). Zool. J. Linn. Soc. 159: 817-889.

Title Illustrations
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Scientific Name Brachoria flammipes
Location USA, Kentucky, Leslie Co.
Reference Marek P.E. 2010. A revision of the Appalachian millipede genus Brachoria Chamberlin, 1939 (Polydesmida: Xystodesmidae: Apheloriini). Zool. J. Linn. Soc. 159: 817-889.
Specimen Condition Live Specimen
Sex m
Life Cycle Stage adult
View dorsal
Collection FMNH
Type holotype
Collector Paul Marek
Image Use creative commons This media file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License - Version 3.0.
Copyright © Paul Marek
About This Page
Work on the millipede Tree of Life pages was supported by a U.S. National Science Foundation Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant to Paul Marek and Jason Bond (DEB 0607996) and a Partnerships for Enhancing Expertise in Taxonomy Grant to Petra Sierwald, Jason Bond, and William Shear (DEB 0529715).

Paul Marek
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

Correspondence regarding this page should be directed to Paul Marek at

Page: Tree of Life Brachoria flammipes Marek 2010. The Fire-footed Mimic Millipede. Authored by Paul Marek. The TEXT of this page is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License - Version 3.0. Note that images and other media featured on this page are each governed by their own license, and they may or may not be available for reuse. Click on an image or a media link to access the media data window, which provides the relevant licensing information. For the general terms and conditions of ToL material reuse and redistribution, please see the Tree of Life Copyright Policies.

Citing this page:

Marek, Paul. 2010. Brachoria flammipes Marek 2010. The Fire-footed Mimic Millipede. Version 16 September 2010 (under construction). http://tolweb.org/Brachoria_flammipes/144815/2010.09.16 in The Tree of Life Web Project, http://tolweb.org/

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