Kings Mountain Milliped Fauna 
37 
shown to have a lower S/G ratio and fewer taxa below the level of order 
than either. Comparison with the entire eastern Piedmont is somewhat 
misleading, however, since the land area investigated by Shelley (1978) 
was much larger and contained a greater variety of biotopes than the 
Kings Mountain region. A more meaningful comparison is with the three 
smaller areas that he sampled in detail — Medoc Mountain and William 
B. Umstead state parks, and the hardwood locality near Ellerbe — each 
more comparable in size to the Kings Mountain region. The ratios for 
these three sites are as follows: Medoc Mountain State Park (5/6/7/7, 
S/G = 1.00); William B. Umstead State Park (8/12/14/15, S/G = 1.07); 
and Ellerbe (7/10/12/12, S/G = 1.00). The Kings Mountain fauna is 
higher in each taxonomic category than any of these sites, but their S/G 
ratios still reflect the occurrence of essentially one species per genus. Only 
Ptyoiulus, with P. ectenes and P. impressus in the Kings Mountain region, 
and Narceus, with N. americanus and N. annularis in Umstead State Park, 
are represented by more than one species at a site. The greater numbers 
of taxa in the Kings Mountain region may reflect its mountainous 
character, but the region is still unable to support significantly more than 
one species per genus. Compared to the Appalachian Mountains in 
general and the Great Smoky Mountains in particular, the Kings Moun- 
tain region has fewer taxa in every category (the number of orders for the 
Great Smoky Mountains was not reported by Hoffman 1969) and a 
much lower S/G ratio. Many Appalachian genera are represented by 
more than one species, a reflection of the greater variety of niches af- 
forded by the rugged, heterogeneous terrain. 
Despite the numerical differences, however, there are similarities 
between the Kings Mountain region and the other areas. Eight species of 
widespread distribution are common to all three: P. strictum, A. cor- 
ticarius, N. americanus, A. magnum, C. annulata, O. gracilis, P. branneri, 
S. granulatus, and one or possibly two species of Striaria (taxonomic 
problems exist within this genus). Some of the 24 species found in the 
Kings Mountain region also occur in one of the others but not both. 
Seven typically Piedmont inhabitants currently unknown from the moun- 
tains are shared with the eastern Piedmont — P. fasciculatus, N. minutus, 
B. lusitanus, P. ectenes, T. dux, A. erythropygos, and S. latior. Most were 
expected in the Kings Mountain region at the outset of the study. Five 
species are likewise shared with the Appalachians — P. impressus, 
Teniulus sp., C. medialis, D. georgianum, and B. stricta. Their discovery in 
the Kings Mountain region was a complete surprise and a significant 
range extension for each. Fifteen species reported from the eastern Pied- 
mont by Shelley (1978) were not found in the Kings Mountain region, 
although three, Cylindroiulus truncorum (Silvestri), Ophyiulus pilosus 
(Newport), and Apheloria tigana Chamberlin, are considered potential 
inhabitants. The first two are synanthropic millipeds that could have 
been overlooked in our study since we did not sample urban environ- 
ments. Apheloria tigana is so common in the eastern Piedmont and in the 
