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Brachoria laminata Keeton 1959

The Harman Mimic Millipede

Paul Marek
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Containing group: Brachoria

Characteristics

Brachoria laminata individuals are about 45.6 mm long and 10.5 mm wide (females 46.0 mm X 10.9 mm).  Color: Striped yellow.

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

Habitat

In Buchanan County, Brachoria laminata specimens were collected during the day (13:42) in a forest comprising birch, tulip poplar, and maple.  In Tazewell County, millipedes were collected during the afternoon (17:00) near a seep in a rhododendron, hemlock and tulip poplar forest.  Individuals were found beneath layers of decomposing leaf material.  Other xystodesmids encountered sympatrically at these localities are: Brachoria hoffmani and Apheloria virginiensis corrugata.  Note: Individuals of B. laminata may be confused in the field with B. hoffmani, B. ligula and A. virginiensis corrugata due to similarity in color patterns.

Distribution

Known only from near the type locality in Buchanan Co., Virginia and two other sites, in Tazewell Co., VA and McDowell Co., WV.  The closest known Brachoria species, B. hoffmani, co-occurs with B. laminata at the Buchanan County locality.  Brachoria campcreekensis and B. ligula occur about 31 air km north in Mercer County and about 26 air km east in McDowell County.

Conservation status

Brachoria laminata 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.

Keeton W.T. 1959. A revision of the millipede genus Brachoria (Polydesmida: Xystodesmidae) Proc. US Nat. Mus. 109: 1-58.

Hoffman R.L. 1999. Checklist of the millipeds of North and Middle America. Virginia Museum of Natural History Special Publication. No. 8. Martinsville: Virginia Museum of Natural History.

Title Illustrations
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Scientific Name Brachoria laminata
Location USA, Virginia, Tazewell 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
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 laminata Keeton 1959. The Harman 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 laminata Keeton 1959. The Harman Mimic Millipede. Version 16 September 2010 (under construction). http://tolweb.org/Brachoria_laminata/144227/2010.09.16 in The Tree of Life Web Project, http://tolweb.org/

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