| The millipede tribe Apheloriini encompasses a spectacular evolutionary diversification of 106 species endemic to the Appalachian Mountains, USA. They display brilliant color patterns that vary in hue including yellow, red, orange, and pink. These colors are aposematic, i.e., they are warning signals to indicate an organism's toxicity to predators. Apheloriines are able to secrete a potent dose of hydrogen cyanide in quantities sufficient to kill a jay-sized bird. For over 30 years, color mimicry has been suggested to occur within communities of Apheloriini. Extensive field observations over several years have suggested that apheloriine millipedes constitute a complex mimicry ring where variable aposematic hues and patterns are shared among co-occurring species. However, these hypotheses have never been formally tested within the context of a comparative evolutionary framework. Herein we present an estimation of apheloriine millipede evolutionary history to (1) provide an informative framework for investigating this fascinating case of color mimicry evolution, (2) update the classification of the tribe Apheloriini, and (3) provide a context for a taxonomic revision of the apheloriine genus Brachoria. |
