Skip to main content Skip to main navigation menu Skip to site footer
Responsive image
Issue: Vol. 5777 No. 3: 19 Mar. 2026
Type: Article
Published: 2026-03-19
DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5777.3.10
Page range: 574-586
Abstract views: 65
PDF downloaded: 4

The millipede genus Chamberlinius (Diplopoda, Polydesmida, Paradoxosomatidae) in mainland Southeast Asia, with the description of a new species from Laos

Program of Agriculture; Faculty of Agricultural Production; Maejo University; Chiang Mai 50290; Thailand
Fédération française de Spéléologie; Commission scientifique; Groupe d’Étude de Biospéologie; France
Institute of Ecology and Evolution; Russian Academy of Sciences; Leninsky pr. 33; Moscow 119071; Russia
Animal Systematics Research Unit; Department of Biology; Faculty of Science; Chulalongkorn University; Bangkok 10330; Thailand; Academy of Science; The Royal Society of Thailand; Bangkok 10300; Thailand
Animal Systematics Research Unit; Department of Biology; Faculty of Science; Chulalongkorn University; Bangkok 10330; Thailand
Myriapoda Chamberliniini endemism key Laos taxonomy

Abstract

The Southeast Asian millipede genus Chamberlinius Wang, 1956, has been known only from Taiwan, southern Japan, and recently from central Vietnam. This paper describes a new species, Chamberlinius laoticus sp. nov., from a limestone cave in Khammouane Province, Laos, representing the second known mainland representative from Indochina. The new species is readily distinguished from all congeners by its smaller size, uniformly pale coloration lacking any darker markings, and the absence of ridge-like spiracles flanking the gonopod aperture. This warrants the generic diagnosis to be slightly amended. An updated key to and a distribution map for all seven known species of Chamberlinius are also provided.

 

References

  1. American Veterinary Medical Association (2020) AVMA Guide-lines for the Euthanasia of Animals: 2020 edition. Available from: https://www.avma.org/sites/default/files/2020-02/Guidelines-on-Euthanasia-2020.pdf (accessed 15 August 2025)
  2. Brölemann, H.W. (1916) Essai de classification des Polydesmiens [Myriapodes]. Annales de la Société Entomologique de France, 84, 523–608. https://doi.org/10.1080/21686351.1915.12279415
  3. Chen, C.C., Golovatch, S.I. & Chang, H.W. (2008) Identity of the east Asian millipede Habrodesmus inexpectatus Attems, 1944 (Diplopoda: Polydesmida: Paradoxosomatidae). Journal of Natural History, 42 (39–40), 2547–2556. https://doi.org/10.1080/00222930802354118
  4. Chen, C.C., Golovatch, S.I., Chang, H.W. & Chen, S.H. (2011) Revision of the Taiwanese millipede genus Chamberlinius Wang, 1956, with descriptions of two new species and a reclassification of the tribe Chamberlinini (Diplopoda, Polydesmida, Paradoxosomatidae, Paradoxosomatinae). ZooKeys, 98, 1–27. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.98.1183
  5. Golovatch, S.I. (2016) On several new or poorly-known Oriental Paradoxosomatidae (Diplopoda: Polydesmida), XIX. Arthropoda Selecta, 25 (2), 131–152. https://doi.org/10.15298/arthsel.25.2.01
  6. Gressitt, J.L. (1941) New myriopods from Formosa and Hainan Island. Annals and Magazine of Natural History, Series 11, 8 (43), 55–61. https://doi.org/10.1080/03745481.1941.9727950
  7. Higa, Y. & Kishimoto, T. (1986) Unusual outbreak and control of millipedes, Chamberlinius haulienensis Wang in Okinawa. Annual Report of Okinawa Prefectural Institute of Public Health, 20, 62–72. [in Japanese]
  8. Hoffman, R.L. (1973) Descriptions and allocation of new or poorly known genera and species of Paradoxosomatidae from south-eastern Asia (Diplopoda: Polydesmida). Journal of Natural History, 7, 361–389. https://doi.org/10.1080/00222937300770281
  9. Hoffman, R.L. (1980) Classification of the Diplopoda. Muséum d’histoire naturelle, Geneve, 237 pp. [for 1979]
  10. Jeekel, C.A.W. (1968) On the classification and geographical distribution of the family Paradoxosomatidae (Diplopoda, Polydesmida). Academisch Proefschrift, Rotterdam, 162 pp. [privately published]
  11. Jeekel, C.A.W. (1971) Nomenclator generum et familiarum Diplopodorum. A list of the genus and family-group names in the Class Diplopoda from the 10th edition of Linnaeus, 1758, to the end of 1957. Monografieen van de Nederlandse Entomologische Vereniging, 5, i–xii + 1–412 [for 1970]
  12. Korsós, Z. (2004) Checklist and bibliography of millipedes (Diplopoda) of Taiwan. Collection and Research, 17, 11–32.
  13. Likhitrakarn, N., Golovatch, S.I. & Sittichaya, W. (2022) Review of the millipede genus Malayorthomorpha Mršić, 1996 (Diplopoda, Polydesmida, Paradoxosomatidae), with descriptions of two new species from Thailand and a key to its species. ZooKeys, 1118, 1–19. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1118.89593
  14. Likhitrakarn, N., Srisonchai, R., Siriwut, W., Jirapatrasilp, P., Jeratthitikul, E., Panha, S. & Sutcharit, C. (2023) Review of the pill millipede genus Hyperglomeris Silvestri, 1917 (Diplopoda, Glomerida, Glomeridae) with description of two new species from Laos. ZooKeys, 1163, 177–198. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1163.103950
  15. Likhitrakarn, N., Jeratthitikul, E., Jirapatrasilp, P. & Wesener, T. (2024) Integrated taxonomy of three new species of Glyphiulus Gervais, 1847 (Diplopoda, Spirostreptida, Cambalopsidae) from Laos. Raffles Bulletin of Zoology, 72, 42–61. https://doi.org/10.26107/RBZ-2024-0003
  16. Likhitrakarn, N., Lips, J., Golovatch, S.I., Jeratthitikul, E., Panha, S. & Sutcharit, C. (2025a) Three new species of the Oriental millipede genus Tylopus Jeekel, 1968 (Diplopoda, Polydesmida, Paradoxosomatidae) from China and Laos. Zoosystema, 47 (5), 75–88. https://doi.org/10.5252/zoosystema2025v47a5
  17. Likhitrakarn, N., Golovatch, S.I., Inkhavilay, K., Panha, S. & Sutcharit, C. (2025b) Taxonomic review of the millipede genus Touranella Attems, 1937, with a redescription of the type species, T. gracilis Attems, 1937, and descriptions of three new species from Laos (Diplopoda, Polydesmida, Paradoxosomatidae). ZooKeys, 1238, 183–208. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1238.147550
  18. Likhitrakarn, N., Golovatch, S.I. & Panha, S. (2025c) Review of the Flat Back Millipede Genus Yuennanina Attems, 1936 (Polydesmida: Paradoxosomatidae), with the Description of a New Species from Thailand. Tropical Natural History, Supplement 8 (2025), 13–23. https://doi.org/10.58837/tnh.25.8.266228
  19. Murakami, Y. (1975) The cave myriapods of the Ryukyu Islands (I). Bulletin of the National Science Museum, Tokyo, Series A, 1 (2), 87–113.
  20. Nakamura, Y. & Korsós, Z. (2010) Distribution and diversity of millipedes of the Ryukyu Archipelago, with the Senkaku and Daito island groups: A literature review (Arthropoda: Diplopoda). Acta Arachnologica, 59 (2), 73–86. https://doi.org/10.2476/asjaa.59.73
  21. Ng, T.H., Srisonchai, R., Golovatch, S.I., Sutcharit, C., Panha, S., Latim, M. & Likhitrakarn, N. (2025) A taxonomic study of millipede genera, Orangutana Golovatch, 1996 and Gigantomorpha Jeekel, 1963 (Diplopoda, Polydesmida, Paradoxosomatidae), with description of four new species from Sabah, Borneo, East Malaysia. European Journal of Taxonomy, 987, 221–248. https://doi.org/10.5852/ejt.2025.987.2871
  22. Nguyen, A.D. (2011) A review of the millipede tribe Tonkinosomatini (Diplopoda: Polydesmida: Paradoxosomatidae) from Vietnam. Zootaxa, 3036 (1), 58–68. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.3036.1.4
  23. Nguyen, A.D. & Korsós, Z. (2011) A revision of the millipede genus Riukiupeltis Verhoeff, 1939 (Diplopoda, Polydesmida, Paradoxosomatidae), with comments on the status of related species. In: Mesibov, R. & Short, M. (Eds.), Proceedings of the 15th International Congress of Myriapodology, 18–22 July 2011, Brisbane, Australia. ZooKeys, 156, 25–40. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.156.2009
  24. Nguyen, A.D. & Sierwald, P. (2013) A worldwide catalog of the family Paradoxosomatidae Daday, 1889 (Diplopoda: Polydesmida). Check List, 9 (6), 1132–1353. https://doi.org/10.15560/9.6.1132
  25. Nguyen, A.D., Sierwald, P. & Ware, S. (2023) First record of the genus Touranella Attems, 1937 (Diplopoda, Polydesmida, Paradoxosomatidae) from Laos, with a description of a new species. ZooKeys, 1145, 169–180. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1145.98704
  26. Niijima, K. & Arimura, T. (2002) Obstruction of trains by the outbreaks a millipede Chamberlinius hualienensis Wang (Diplopoda: Polydesmida). Edaphologia, 69, 47–49. [in Japanese]
  27. Verhoeff, K.W. (1939) Zur Kenntnis ostasiatischer Diplopoden. III. Zoologischer Anzeiger, 127 (5/6), 113–125.
  28. Wang, D. & Mauries, J.P. (1996) Review and perspective of study on myriapodology of China. In: Geoffroy, J.J., Mauries, J.P. & Nguyen Duy-Jacquemin, M. (Eds.), Acta Myriapodologica. Memoires du Museum national d’Histoire naturelle, 169, pp. 81–99.
  29. Wang, Y.H.M. (1956) Serica 1e: Records of myriapods on Formosa with description of new species (2). Quarterly Journal of the Taiwan Museum, 9, 155–159.
  30. Wang, Y.H.M. (1957) Serica 1g: Records of myriapods on Taiwan Islands (4). Six new polydesmides. Quarterly Journal of the Taiwan Museum, 10, 103–111.
  31. Wang, Y.H.M. (1958a) Records of Formosan Myriapods. Proceedings of the 10th International Congress of Entomology, 1, 881–882.
  32. Wang, Y.H.M. (1958b) Serica 1i: On Diplopoda from Taiwan with a new strongylosomids. Quarterly Journal of the Taiwan Museum, 11 (3/4), 340–344.
  33. Wang, Y.H.M. (1963) Serica 1q: Millipedes and Centipedes of Quemoy, Fukien Province and Taiwan Island, Botel Tobago (Lan Yu), Taiwan Province and of Singapore. Quarterly Journal of the Taiwan Museum, 16 (1/2), 89–96.
  34. Wang, Y.H.M. (1964) Serica 1op: Wallacea and insular fauna of millipedes. Quarterly Journal of the Taiwan Museum, 17 (1/2), 67–76.

How to Cite

Likhitrakarn, N., Lips, J., Golovatch, S.I., Panha, S. & Sutcharit, C. (2026) The millipede genus Chamberlinius (Diplopoda, Polydesmida, Paradoxosomatidae) in mainland Southeast Asia, with the description of a new species from Laos. Zootaxa, 5777 (3), 574–586. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5777.3.10