228 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM vol. 112 



Solution of this difficulty involves more than merely clarifying sys- 

 tematics and phylogeny within the small confines of Cherokia, and 

 will provide insight into the problem of coping with related genera 

 composed of heteromorphic "species" held together by a constant 

 gonopod structure. The ultimate challenge in this direction is the 

 large neotropical genus Bhysodesmus, already with about 80 named 

 forms despite only desultory collecting in the region it occupies. 



The considerable quantity of material of Cherokia now at hand from 

 a large number of localities facilitates a fairly thorough examination 

 of speciation and geographic variation in diplopod genera character- 

 ized by basically uniform gonopod structure. It is hoped that the 

 following account will be of interest and value to other investigators 

 who find pleasure and reward in unraveling the intricacies inherent 

 in this neglected class of arthropods. 



REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE 



Apparently the first specimens of this genus to be collected were 

 obtained in Georgia by L. M. Underwood. During the summer of 

 1887, he secured material at Macon, Lookout Mountain, Indian 

 Springs, and Tallulah, and two years later Charles H. Bollman de- 

 scribed from it two species referable to Cherokia. These were Fon- 

 taria georgiana, based on numerous specimens from Piedmont locali- 

 ties, and Font aria tallulah, the types of which are two immature 

 females from Tallulah Falls on the edge of the Blue Ridge province. 

 Bollman recognized the similarity of these two species in most respects 

 and made the separation between them primarily on the basis of 

 differences in the color patterns. 



Kemarkably enough, no further information on the genus was 

 published for 50 years. In 1939, R. V. Chamberlin described material 

 from Soco Gap, North Carolina, under the name Mimuloria ducilla, 

 and followed it a year later with the closely related Mimuloria furcifer. 

 These names were considered to be synonyms of georgiana by H. F. 

 Loomis (1943), who had seen Bollman 's types and felt that only a 

 single form was involved. Under the name Dynoria parvior, Cham- 

 berlin (1947) described another local population of Cherokia from 

 north Georgia and compared it only with Dynoria icana although the 

 two species clearly are not congeneric. This fact was pointed out 

 in a subsequent paper by Loomis and Hoffman (1948), who considered 

 parvior to be a junior synonym of georgiana. 



For a decade, specimens belonging to this genus were referred to 

 Mimuloria (Chamberlin, 1928) although the type species, M. mis- 

 souriensis Chamberlin, had never been described sufficiently to give 

 any idea of its attributes. Finally in 1949 Chamberlin set up the 

 new genus Cherokia and designated Fontaria georgiana Bollman as 



