Desmoxytes purpurosea

Desmoxytes purpurosea (shocking pink dragon millipede) also known as dragon millipede, is a spiny and toxic millipede named for its vivid pink color. It was formally described in 2007 from a specimen collected at the Hup Pa Tard limestone cavern in the Uthai Thani Province of Thailand.[1] Among the largest species of its genus, the adult millipede is approximately 3 cm (1.2 in) long. It lives in the open on leaf litter. Large numbers of them occur after rain showers.[1] The millipede has glands that produce hydrogen cyanide to protect it from predators, which causes it to smell like almonds. Its toxicity is advertised by its aposematic color.[2]

Desmoxytes purpurosea
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Arthropoda
Class:
Diplopoda
Order:
Polydesmida
Family:
Paradoxosomatidae
Genus:
Desmoxytes
Species:
D. purpurosea
Binomial name
Desmoxytes purpurosea
Enghoff, Sutcharit, & Panha, 2007

The shocking pink dragon millipede was named third in the top ten new species list of 2008 by the International Institute for Species Exploration.[3]


Other species of genus Desmoxytes can be brightly colored, sometimes in shades of red, as in Desmoxytes rubra.[1]

References
  1. Enghoff, Henrik; Sutcharit, Chirasak; Panha, Somsak (2007). "The shocking pink dragon millipede, Desmoxytes purpurosea, a colourful new species from Thailand" (PDF). Zootaxa. 1563: 31–36. ISSN 1175-5326.
  2. "Cyanide Millipede, Huge Spider Among New Species". National Geographic Society. Archived from the original on 12 Dec 2009.
  3. "Top 10 New Species - 2008". International Institute for Species Exploration.


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