Background: Species that are widespread throughout historically glaciated and currently nonglaciated areas provide excellent opportunities to investigate the role of Pleistocene climatic change on the distribution of North American biodiversity. Many studies indicate that northern animal populations exhibit low levels of genetic diversity over geographically widespread areas whereas southern populations exhibit relatively high levels. Recently, paleoclimatic data have been combined with niche-based distribution modeling to locate possible refugia during the Last Glacial Maximum. Using phylogeographic, population, and paleoclimatic data, we show that the distribution and mitochondrial data for the millipede genus Narceus are consistent with classical examples of Pleistocene refugia and subsequent post-glacial population expansion seen in other organismal groups.

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The rat lungworm Angiostrongylus cantonensis is a nematode parasite that can cause potentially fatal eosinophilic meningitis in humans. The life cycle of A. cantonensis involves multiple hosts, with the most common terminal hosts being rodents and intermediate hosts comprising gastropods. One such gastropod is the invasive island apple snail Pomacea maculata, which is native to South America but is currently established in several states in the USA, including South Carolina. It has been identified as an intermediate host for A. cantonensis in several locations in Louisiana. The ability of the island apple snail to serve as an intermediate host for A. cantonensis poses significant potential threats to human health, yet no studies to date have determined the prevalence of this parasite in island apple snails in South Carolina. The objective of this study was to investigate the frequency of occurrence of A. cantonensis in South Carolina island apple snails by using a real‐time PCR assay. One‐hundred individuals from each of three distinct stormwater retention ponds were tested, and no positive detections were found. Determining the prevalence of A. cantonensis in island apple snails is critical in accurately informing the public as to the risks involved in handling and/or consuming island apple snails.

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