Desmoxytes Chamberlin, 1923

Golovatch, Sergei I., Li, Youbang, Liu, Weixin & Geoffroy, Jean-Jacques, 2012, Three new cavernicolous species of dragon millipedes, genus Desmoxytes Chamberlin, 1923, from southern China, with notes on a formal congener from the Philippines (Diplopoda, Polydesmida, Paradoxosomatidae), ZooKeys 185, pp. 1-17 : 3

Desmoxytes Chamberlin, 1923

Diagnosis.

A genus of medium-sized to larger (up to 43 mm long) Orthomorphini with 20 segments and conspicuously enlarged and elevated paraterga (antler-like, wing-shaped or spiniform). Metaterga often granulate, tuberculate and/or spiculate. Certain male femora (5, 6, 7 and/or 9) often inflated ventrally. A setose central lobe or a paramedian pair of setose tubercles between male coxae 4 present.

Gonopods with rather short, subcylindrical, distoventrally setose coxae. Telopodites mostly suberect, only seldom subfalcate. Prefemoral (= densely setose) portion from 1/3 to 1/2 as long to nearly as long as femorite, the latter not twisted, at most only slightly enlarged distad and devoid both of a mesal groove/hollow and any processes. Seminal groove running entirely mesally to pass onto a usually shortened solenomere, the latter mostly sheathed by a usually condensed, rather simple solenophore, much shorter than femorite, composed of a smaller lamina medialis and a larger lamina lateralis. Solenophore demarcated from femorite by a clear-cut sulcus or cingulum at base, poorly or strongly set off from base of solenomere.

Type species.

Desmoxytes coniger Chamberlin, 1923

Species composition.

Currently 29 described species.

Remarks.

The above diagnosis largely repeats that given by Golovatch and Enghoff (1994). Here it only emphasizes variation in relative lengths of the femoral and solenophore parts of the gonopod telopodite.