Weixin Liu

• PhD Student at South China Agricultural University

A new species of giant pill-millipede is described and illustrated from Guizhou Provinces, southern China: Sphaerobelum huzhengkuni n. sp. This is the first record of the genus Sphaerobelum in China. A molecular phylogenetic analysis of this genus is also provided based on DNA-barcoding of the COI mitochondrial gene.

A new species of glomeridellid millipede is described from Guizhou Province, southern China: Tonkinomeris huzhengkuni sp. nov. This new epigean species differs very clearly in many structural details, being sufficiently distinct morphologically and disjunct geographically from T. napoensis Nguyen, Sierwald & Marek, 2019, the type and sole species o...

Based on all available information, 339 species from 71 genera, 26 families, and eleven orders of Diplopoda have hitherto been recorded from mainland China, the fauna thus being very rich, albeit far from completely known, comprising various zoogeographic elements and populating very different environments. Diplopods mainly occur in various woodlan...

The millipede, Niponia nodulosa Verhoeff, 1931 is recorded from Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces, eastern China, for the first time. Two new species of the genus Epanerchodus Attems, 1901 are described from the Jiangzhe Area: Epanerchodus campus n. sp. and Epanerchodus bishou n. sp..

We synthesized the current knowledge of cave-dwelling millipede diversity from Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region (Guangxi), South China Karst, China and described six new millipede species from four caves from the Guilin area, northeastern Guangxi. Fifty-two cave-dwelling millipedes are known for the region consisting of 38 troglobionts and 14 trogl...

Seven new species of Epanerchodus Attems, 1901 are described from caves in southern China: Epanerchodus latus n. sp., Epanerchodus tujiaphilus n. sp., Epanerchodus jiangxiensis n. sp., Epanerchodus coniger n. sp., Epanerchodus parvus n. sp., Epanerchodus gladiatus n. sp. and Epanerchodus chutou n. sp. The first three species are from Chongqing, Hun...

The genus Tonkinosoma Jeekel, 1953 has hitherto been known to contain only two species, both from northern Vietnam. T. flexipes Jeekel, 1953, the type species of the genus, is recorded from Guangxi, southern China, for the first time. T. tianisp. n. , a presumed troglobite, is described from caves in Guizhou, southwestern China. A key is presented...

Three new species of Trichopeltis are described from caves in southern China: T. bellus sp. n., T. intricatus sp. n., and T. reflexus sp. n., all presumed troglobites. The former two come from Yunnan Province, the latter one from Hunan Province. An updated key to all eleven currently known species of Trichopeltis is provided.

With only two described recent species worldwide, Siphoniulida represents the rarest of the 16 extant orders of millipedes (Diplopoda). Additionally, there is no fossil record of this order yet. While millipedes, in general, constitute an important fossil group, there is a gap in the Mesozoic with only about a dozen described species. Thus, the fin...

Four new species of the chordeumatidan millipede genus Nepalella Shear, 1979, family Megalotylidae, are described from caves in southern China: N. troglodytes sp. nov., N. lobata sp. nov., N. jinfoshan sp. nov., and N. wangi sp. nov. Three of them (except N. lobata sp. nov.) are presumed troglobites. Additional locality records of two cave congener...

Laos has large areas of primary forest with a largely unexplored fauna. This is evidenced by millipedes, class Diplopoda, with fewer than 60 species being recorded from the country. In the widespread Southeast Asian “Star Millipede” genus Eutrichodesmus Silvestri, 1910 (family Haplodesmidae), only two of 49 recorded species have been found in Laos....

Animal life in caves has fascinated researchers and the public alike because of the unusual and sometimes bizarre morphological adaptations observed in numerous troglobitic species. Despite their worldwide diversity, the adaptations of cave millipedes (Diplopoda) to a troglobitic lifestyle have rarely been examined. In this study, morphological cha...

Male characters. (DOCX)

Female characters. (DOCX)

Millipedes (Diplopoda) are an important fossil group of land arthropods in the Palaeozoic. However, there is a gap in the Mesozoic, with only slightly more than a dozen fossils being known, until the much more recent fossil records mainly from Cenozoic Dominican and Baltic ambers become available. Burmese amber, precisely dated to the Late Cretaceo...

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

Seven new cavernicolous species of the millipede genus Hyleoglomeris Verhoeff, 1910 are described and illustrated from karsts in southern China: H. grandis sp. n., H. baxian sp. n.from Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region; H. rhinoceros sp. n., H. getuhensis sp. n., H. generalis sp. n., H. variabilis sp. n. and H. multistriata sp. n., from Guizhou Prov...

Two new species of the millipede genus Paracortina Wang & Zhang, 1993 are described. Both are presumed troglophiles: Paracortina zhangi sp. n. from a cave in Ceheng County, southwestern Guizhou Province and Paracortina yinae sp. n. from a cave in Longlin County, western Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. A distribution map and a key to all 12 Paraco...

Piccola golovatchi sp. nov. is described and illustrated. It comes from the limestone cave called Shizikou Dadong, Tianlin County, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, southern China. This species is considered to be a troglobite, showing a pallid tegument and extremely enlongated antennae and legs. This is the first record of the millipede genus Picc...

Four new species of Desmoxytes are described from southern China: Desmoxyteslingulata sp. n., Desmoxytesparvula sp. n., and Desmoxytesnodulosa sp. n., from Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, and Desmoxytesgetuhensis sp. n. from Guizhou Province. In addition, new records of Desmoxytesscutigeroides Golovatch, Geoffroy & Mauriès, 2010 and Desmoxytessco...

Four new species of the large oriental genus Eutrichodesmus Silvestri, 1910 are described from caves in southern China: E. digitatus sp. n. (Guangdong), E. simplex sp. n. (Jiangxi), E. spinatus sp. n. (Hunan) and E. planatus sp. n. (Guangxi).

China is shown to currently support 23 species of the large, basically warm temperate to tropical Asian genus Hyleoglomeris, all keyed and mapped, including 15 new ones: H. tiani sp. n., H. xia sp. n. and H. youhao sp. n. from Hunan Province, H. wuse sp. n., H. nigu sp. n., H. gudu sp. n. and H. yinshi sp. n. from Guizhou Province, as well as H. qi...

The small, basically Himalayan genus Glenniea Turk, 1945 is formally new to the fauna of China due to the discovery of G. prima sp.n., a species that lives epigeically in Guangxi Province. Epanerchodus orientalis Attems, 1901, a highly polymorphous species very common in Japan and Taiwan, is formally reported from China for the first time as well,...

The large Southeast Asian genus Desmoxytes is slightly rediagnosed. A number of troglomorphic, most likely troglobitic, species occur in southern China. A key is provided to all 10 Desmoxytes spp. currently known from China, including three new presumed troglobites: Desmoxytes eupterygota sp. n. from Hunan Province, as well as Desmoxytes spinissima...