title: Four colorful new species of dragon millipedes, genus Desmoxytes Chamberlin, 1923, from northern Thailand (Diplopoda: Polydesmida: Paradoxosomatidae).
abstract: Four new dragon millipede species of the genus Desmoxytes from northern Thailand are described and illustrated: D. des sp. n. from Chiang Mai Province, D. breviverpa sp. n. from Phrae Province, D. takensis sp. n. from Tak Province and      D. pinnasquali sp. n. from Phitsanulok Province. The new species were compared with type specimens of closely related species and were all found to exhibit explicit morphological differences from these. They can be distinguished from other members of Desmoxytes by the shape of the gonopods, the sternal process between male coxae 4, the pattern of spines or tubercles on the metaterga, and the shape of the paraterga. The coloration of all new species is clearly aposematic: ranging from purple-pink to red. The new species are discussed in relation to their congeners, and a distribution map is provided.
authors.affiliation: Biological Sciences Program, Faculty of Science, Chulalongkorn University, Phaya Thai Road, Patumwan, Bangkok 10330, Thailand. Animal Systematics Research Unit, Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Chulalongkorn University, Phaya Thai Road, Patumwan, Bangkok 10330, Thailand.; Email: ruttapon60104@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Ruttapon
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Srisonchai
authors.affiliation: Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen, Universitetsparken 15, DK-2100 København Ø, Denmark.; Email: henghoff@snm.ku.dk.
authors.forename: Henrik
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Enghoff
authors.affiliation: Animal Systematics Research Unit, Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Chulalongkorn University, Phaya Thai Road, Patumwan, Bangkok 10330, Thailand. Division of Plant Protection, Faculty of Agricultural Production, Maejo University, San Sai, Chiang Mai 50290, Thailand.; Email: somsakp@sc.chula.ac.th.
authors.forename: Natdanai
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Likhitrakarn
authors.affiliation: Animal Systematics Research Unit, Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Chulalongkorn University, Phaya Thai Road, Patumwan, Bangkok 10330, Thailand.; Email: somsakp@sc.chula.ac.th.
authors.forename: Somsak
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Panha
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001181:Arthropods / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000145:classification* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D013045:Species Specificity