Desmoxytes purpurosea - The Shocking Pink Dragon Millipede

Arizona State University's International Institute for Species Exploration named Desmoxytes purpurosea the number 3 new species of 2008.

Desmoxytes purpurosea - #3 2008

See the rest of the 2008 list

As everyone knows, millipedes have 1000 legs and centipedes have only 100.

WRONG! (Arthropod humor!)

The key way to tell millipedes (Class Diplopoda) from centipedes (Class Chilopoda) (both come from the same subphylum of arthropods - Myriapoda) is that millipedes have two pairs of legs per segment (with exceptions like the head segment) and centipedes have only one pair of legs per segment. Centipedes tend to have flatter bodies with legs splayed out and millipedes tend to have rounder bodies with legs underneath. This is not always the case.

At first glance, Desmoxytes purpurosea appears to be a centipede, but careful examination shows a cylindrical body and two pairs of legs per segment.

For those foolish enough to get close enough to this or any other centipede/millipede, both classes are dangerous to predators, but in different ways.

Centipedes will bite and are venomous. Millipedes on the other hand do not bite, but instead exude toxins across their surface to make themselves unpalatable, and to many predators, poisonous.

Desmoxytes purpurosea, like all millipedes, secrete toxic chemicals in order to tell predators to get lost. This includes doses of Hydrogen Cyanide (HCN). This is the same ingredient in Zyklon B(!) and is lethal to humans at high enough doses.

All right, calm down.

For humans, the dose from any millipede is probably not sufficient to kill, although I wouldn't recommend eating Desmoxytes purpurosea or any other millipede, particularly one that has only just been discovered.

Likely effects to contact with a millipede are minor skin irritations including but not limited to discoloration, itching, eczema, blisters and pain. If you were to touch the millipede and rub your eye, minor to serious irritation, keratitis and conjunctivitis may result.

Most results would be topical, so be sure to wash your hands thoroughly after touching a millipede and if you get anything in your eye, flush the area thoroughly with water and then seek medical treatment.

Some pet shops sell millipedes as pets, and good owners, if they handle their millipedes, should know these basic care instructions.

Desmoxytes purpurosea in particular is also colored a shocking pink, thus its name. The shocking pink dragon millipede uses aposematism (which is a fancy word for coloring designed to say "leave me alone or else"). The bright pink coloration and puffs of hydrogen cyanide, in case a predator gets too close, are designed to keep this otherwise harmless new discovery at arms (paws, talons, jaws) length from everything else in the wild.