First Report of the Millipede Genus Cryptocorypha Attems, 1907 in the Americas (Polydesmida: Pyrgodesmidae)

Authors

Lance Andrew, Georgia College and State UniversityFollow
Bruce A. Snyder, Georgia College and State UniversityFollow
Eliot G. VanOtterenFollow

ORCID IDs

Andrew 0009-0001-5292-1413

Snyder 0000-0003-4116-4362

VanOttern 0009-0007-8471-1991

Document Type

Article

Date of this Version

2024

Citation

Insecta Mundi (2024) 1096

December 20, 2024

ZooBank registration: urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:C50809AB-A8A6-408E-9E01-AF13C8BBD80E

Comments

Copyright 2024, the authors. Open access

License: CC BY-NC 3.0

Abstract

The family Pyrgodesmidae, one of the most diverse polydesmidan families, is distributed throughout much of the tropics. While the subtropical southeastern United States has relatively low pyrgodesmid diversity compared to the tropics, several native and adventive species have managed to establish. Cryptocorypha Attems, 1907, despite being nearly pantropical—with an established range that covers tropical Africa, Asia, and many Pacific islands—has never before been documented in the Americas. Representatives matching Cryptocorypha ornata (Attems, 1938) have been collected from coastal Georgia, USA. These were originally identified as being unusual through the community science platform iNaturalist. Cryptocorypha ornata is the ninth pyrgodesmid documented in the continental United States. This new record demonstrates the efficacy of community science platforms such as iNaturalist for surveillance for undocumented taxa.