Mud and silk in the dark: A new type of millipede moulting chamber and first observations on the maturation moult in the order Callipodida

Cave-adapted millipedes from Portugal: species conservation profiles

Background

Amongst the cave-dwelling millipedes (Diplopoda), there are several endemic species in Portugal with a very small geographical distribution. These species play an important role in the decomposition of organic matter in subterranean ecosystems and are vulnerable to disturbance from human activities, such as habitat destruction, pollution infiltrating from the surface and cave tourism.

New information

We present the IUCN Red List profiles for cave-adapted millipedes (Diplopoda) from Portugal and propose conservation measures to prevent extinction. Overall, cave-adapted millipedes from Portugal represent an endemic part of the country's biodiversity and conservation efforts will help maintain the delicate ecological balance of subterranean ecosystems.

A revision of dragon millipedes I: genus Desmoxytes Chamberlin, 1923, with the description of eight new species (Diplopoda, Polydesmida, Paradoxosomatidae)

The dragon millipede genus Desmoxytes s.l. is split into five genera, based on morphological characters and preliminary molecular phylogenetic analyses. The present article includes a review of Desmoxytes s.s., while future articles will deal with Hylomus Cook and Loomis, 1924 and three new genera which preliminarily are referred to as the ‘acantherpestes’, ‘gigas’, and ‘spiny’ groups. Diagnostic morphological characters of each group are discussed. Hylomus is resurrected as a valid genus and the following 33 species are assigned to it: H.asper (Attems, 1937), comb. n., H.cattienensis (Nguyen, Golovatch & Anichkin, 2005), comb. n., H.cervarius (Attems, 1953), comb. n., H.cornutus (Zhang & Li, 1982), comb. n., H.draco Cook & Loomis, 1924, stat. rev., H.enghoffi (Nguyen, Golovatch & Anichkin, 2005), comb. n., H.eupterygotus (Golovatch, Li, Liu & Geoffroy, 2012), comb. n., H.getuhensis (Liu, Golovatch & Tian, 2014), comb. n., H.grandis (Golovatch, VandenSpiegel & Semenyuk, 2016), comb. n., H.hostilis (Golovatch & Enghoff, 1994), comb. n., H.jeekeli (Golovatch & Enghoff, 1994), comb. n., H.lingulatus (Liu, Golovatch & Tian, 2014), comb. n., H.laticollis (Liu, Golovatch & Tian, 2016), comb. n., H.longispinus (Loksa, 1960), comb. n., H.lui (Golovatch, Li, Liu & Geoffroy, 2012), comb. n., H.minutuberculus (Zhang, 1986), comb. n., H.nodulosus (Liu, Golovatch & Tian, 2014), comb. n., H.parvulus (Liu, Golovatch & Tian, 2014), comb. n., H.phasmoides (Liu, Golovatch & Tian, 2016), comb. n., H.pilosus (Attems, 1937), comb. n., H.proximus (Nguyen, Golovatch & Anichkin, 2005), comb. n., H.rhinoceros (Likhitrakarn, Golovatch & Panha, 2015), comb. n., H.rhinoparvus (Likhitrakarn, Golovatch & Panha, 2015), comb. n., H.scolopendroides (Golovatch, Geoffroy & Mauriès, 2010), comb. n., H.scutigeroides (Golovatch, Geoffroy & Mauriès, 2010), comb. n., H.similis (Liu, Golovatch & Tian, 2016), comb. n., H.simplex (Golovatch, VandenSpiegel & Semenyuk, 2016), comb. n., H.simplipodus (Liu, Golovatch & Tian, 2016), comb. n., H.specialis (Nguyen, Golovatch & Anichkin, 2005), comb. n., H.spectabilis (Attems, 1937), comb. n., H.spinitergus (Liu, Golovatch & Tian, 2016), comb. n., H.spinissimus (Golovatch, Li, Liu & Geoffroy, 2012), comb. n. and H.variabilis (Liu, Golovatch & Tian, 2016), comb. n.Desmoxytes s.s. includes the following species: D.breviverpa Srisonchai, Enghoff & Panha, 2016; D.cervina (Pocock,1895); D.delfae (Jeekel, 1964); D.des Srisonchai, Enghoff & Panha, 2016; D.pinnasquali Srisonchai, Enghoff & Panha, 2016; D.planata (Pocock, 1895); D.purpurosea Enghoff, Sutcharit & Panha, 2007; D.takensis Srisonchai, Enghoff & Panha, 2016; D.taurina (Pocock, 1895); D.terae (Jeekel, 1964), all of which are re-described based mainly on type material. Two new synonyms are proposed: Desmoxytespterygota Golovatch & Enghoff, 1994, syn. n. (= Desmoxytescervina (Pocock, 1895)), Desmoxytesrubra Golovatch & Enghoff, 1994, syn. n. (= Desmoxytesdelfae (Jeekel, 1964)). Six new species are described from Thailand: D.aurata Srisonchai, Enghoff & Panha, sp. n., D.corythosaurus Srisonchai, Enghoff & Panha, sp. n., D.euros Srisonchai, Enghoff & Panha, sp. n., D.flabella Srisonchai, Enghoff & Panha, sp. n., D.golovatchi Srisonchai, Enghoff & Panha, sp. n., D.octoconigera Srisonchai, Enghoff & Panha, sp. n., as well as one from Malaysia: D.perakensis Srisonchai, Enghoff & Panha, sp. n., and one from Myanmar: D.waepyanensis Srisonchai, Enghoff & Panha, sp. n. The species can mostly be easily distinguished by gonopod structure in combination with other external characters; some cases of particularly similar congeners are discussed. All species of Desmoxytes s.s. seem to be endemic to continental Southeast Asia (except the ‘tramp’ species D.planata). Some biological observations (relationship with mites, moulting) are recorded for the first time. Complete illustrations of external morphological characters, an identification key, and distribution maps of all species are provided.