Six new species of dragon millipedes, genus Desmoxytes Chamberlin, 1923, mostly from caves in China (Diplopoda, Polydesmida, Paradoxosomatidae)

Abstract

Six new species of Desmoxytes are described from southern China: Desmoxytes laticollis sp. n., Desmoxytes simplipoda sp. n., and Desmoxytes similis sp. n., all three from caves in Guangdong Province; Desmoxytes phasmoides sp. n. also from a cave, and both epigean Desmoxytes spiniterga sp. n. and Desmoxytes variabilis sp. n., the latter trio from Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. A modified key to all 20 Desmoxytes species currently known to occur in China is given.

Cave millipede diversity with the description of six new species from Guangxi, China

“…The genus is often referred to as "dragon millipedes" because of the paraterga is antler-like, wing-shaped or spiniform. It can be characterized by the collum and metaterga often with granulate, tuberculate and/or speculate; male femora (5, 6, 7 and/ or 9) often humped ventrally; and gonopods mostly suberect, some subfalcated, a shortened solenomere mostly sheathed by a usually condensed, rather simple solenophore (Liu et al 2014(Liu et al , 2016. This genus encompasses 33 species distributed from China, Laos, Vietnam and Thailand (Srisonchai et al 2018).…”

“…As troglophiles are expected to have regional distributions, the number of caves where TPs were detected is not included. (Loksa, 1960) TB 1 Loksa 1960, Golovatch et al 2010a, Srisonchai et al 2018Hylomus lui (Golovatch, Li, Liu & Geoffroy, 2012 TB 1 Golovatch et al 2012b, Srisonchai et al 2018 Hylomus nodulosus (Liu, Golovatch & Tian, 2014) TP - Liu et al 2014, Srisonchai et al 2018 Hylomus phasmoides (Liu, Golovatch & Tian, 2016 reference troglophiles (or troglophilous organisms) -non-troglomorphic animals that occur facultatively within caves and complete their life cycles there, but also exist in similar cave-like habitats on the surface (Barr 1967, Howarth 1983, Sket 2008. Terms used for taxonomic descriptions follow Minelli (2015).…”

On several new or poorly-known Oriental Paradoxosomatidae (Diplopoda: Polydesmida), XXVII

“…Differs from all 34 hitherto known species of Hylomus Cook et Loomis, 1924[Strisonchai et al, 2018Liu, Wynne, 2019] by the particularly poorly developed paraterga, coupled with the exceptionally long legs and antennae, the absence of adenostyles, the relatively small lamina lateralis (ll) with a rod-shaped apicomesal process, and the well-developed and apically strongly rugged and denticulate lamina medialis (lm) of the solenophore. Due to the small paraterga, this new species vividly resembles both H. laticollis (Liu, Golovatch et Tian, 2016), a cavernicole from southern China, and H. simplex (Golovatch,. Hylomus srisonchaii sp.n., # paratypes from Kyrang (64-67) and Kyrang 3 (68) caves: 64 -hypoproct, ventral view; 65sternal structures between coxae 4, caudal view; 66-67 -left gonopod, mesal and ventral views, respectively; 68 -right gonopod, mesal view.…”

“…Spiegel et Semenyuk, 2016), a cave-dweller from Laos [Liu et al, 2016;Golovatch et al, 2016], but from the former species it differs readily, among other things, including the gonopodal conformation, by the narrower collum and from the latter species by the granular tegument of the metaterga.…”

A revision of dragon millipedes IV: the new genus Spinaxytes, with the description of nine new species (Diplopoda, Polydesmida, Paradoxosomatidae)

“…The discovery rate of new dragon millipede species has been increasing in recent years (Liu et al 2014, 2016; Likhitrakarn et al 2015; Golovatch et al 2016; Srisonchai et al 2016, 2018a, 2018b, 2018c). Including the nine new species described here, the diversity of dragon millipedes ( Desmoxytes + Hylomus + Nagaxytes + Gigaxytes + Spinaxytes gen. n.) has now reached 59 species.…”