Dragon Millipede

Scientists found these shocking pink millipedes sitting on limestone rocks and on the leaves of Arenga pinnata palms. They suggest the stark bright color is to alert would-be predators of the toxic animal, and they would do well to heed this warning - the millipede has glands that produce cyanide as a defensive mechanism. The species joins twenty-three other dragon millipedes of the genus Desmoxytes known from a large area in Southeast Asia, from southeastern China, south through Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam. Four more of these deadly dragon millipedes were described from Vietnam in 2005.