MILLIPED GENUS CHEROKIA — HOFFMAN 233 



Shape of solenomerite of gonopods: In Cherokia the male gono- 

 pod (fig. 4,a) is superficially bifid distally. This impression is created 

 by a subtriangular, retrorse solenomerite (SLM) and a normally smaller 

 subapical spur. Examination of the gonopods under considerable 

 magnification reveals that in the mountains of North Carolina there 

 is a tendency for the solenomerite to become elongated with evenly 

 converging sides (fig. 4,/), while over most of the remainder of the gen- 

 eric range, the solenomerite is much shorter and frequently somewhat 

 curved, with one margin convex and the other concave (fig. 4,e). Un- 

 fortunately this variation is not as constant as might be wished; its 

 distribution is fraught with exceptions and intermediate forms. 



Occurrence of tibiotarsal marginal spur: In most specimens 

 of Cherokia the coxal margin of the tibiotarsus is provided with a dis- 

 tinct acute spur of varying size (fig. 4,6, TTS) . In the Great Smokies, 

 the spur is typically absent in all specimens. Southward, the per- 

 centage of absence decreases to 88 at Soco Gap in the Balsams, 68 in 

 the Cowees, 12 in the Nantahalas, 44 around Highlands, North Caro- 

 lina, and 36 at Brasstown Bald, Georgia. Throughout the remainder 

 of the generic range, the spin- is absent in less than 25 percent of the 

 specimens examined. 



The inference to be drawn from these phenomena is that the spin- 

 is occasionally absent in most of the populations of Cherokia, but 

 becomes progressively suppressed in the southern end of the Blue 

 Ridge and totally so in the Smokies. 



Variation in color pattern : Modifications of color pattern in ( Ik ro- 

 kia are numerous and complex, and full appreciation of such charact ers 

 can be had only through knowledge of living colors. This informa- 

 tion is available at least for the critical region of the western Carolinas 

 and north Georgia, and permits some inferences on evolution and 

 migration routes in the mountainous region where the genus is, 

 structurally least stable. The different patterns may be classified 

 roughly as follows : 



A. Bimaculate, no median row of spots 



B. Trimaculate 



1. Small median spots 



2. Broad median spots 



C. Banded 



1. Red bands superimposed on the trimaculate phase 



2. Bands formed by very wide median spots 



3. Complete, characteristically wide crossbands. 



There is a sort of progression represented by this breakdown, from 

 A through Bl, B2, and C2 to C3. Normally, however, each group is 

 isolated geographically. 



Bimaculation has been observed only in one sample, a small series 

 from Lee County, Alabama, on the southern periphery of the generic 



