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Material of the giant pill-millipede genus Zephronia Gray, 1832 recently collected from Thailand contains three new species: Zephronia enghoffisp. nov., Zephronia golovatchisp. nov., and Zephronia panhaisp. nov. The first Zephronia species recorded for Thailand, Z. siamensis Hirst, 1907, is also redescribed based on new specimens collected both from the type locality in Chonburi Province and from neighboring areas. Morphological characters of all new species, Z. phrain Likhitrakarn & Golovatch, 2021, and Z. siamensis are illustrated, and a distribution map of the confirmed Zephronia species occurring in Thailand is also provided.

Three populations of the pill millipede genus Trachysphaera Heller 1858 are present in Great Britain, one on the Isle of Wight, one in South Wales and one in mid-Wales. To identify and characterize the British Trachysphaera populations, the intraspecific and interspecific variation of the populations in South Wales and on the Isle of Wight were studied and evaluated in a first integrative study of members of Trachysphaera, utilizing barcoding and SEM. DNA was extracted from 28 British Trachysphaera and 10 French T. lobata (Ribaut 1954) specimens, one each of French T. cf. drescoi (Conde and Demange 1961) and T. pyrenaica (Ribaut 1908), and one of Spanish T. cf. rousseti (Demange 1959); the barcoding fragment of the COI gene was amplified and their genetic intra- and interpopulation distances compared with one another using two Italian T. spp. and one Croatian T. schmidti Heller 1858 specimens as near outgroups. To compare the genetic distances with the morphological characters, 15 characters of a total of 13 British Trachysphaera, together with two specimens of T. pyrenaica, two T. cf. drescoi and one of T. cf. rousseti were imaged, using the same individuals utilized for DNA extraction. Albeit both British populations are genetically distant, they are closely related (1.9–2.5% p-distance) to French T. lobata, corroborating results of earlier studies. Between different Trachysphaera species, genetic distance was high (16.7–18.8%). The morphological study showed the non-reliability of key taxonomic characters in Trachysphaera, with genetically identical individuals exhibiting morphological variation, especially on the telopods. The only observed morphological characters constant within and different between species were the number of rows of sclerotized bacilli on the tergites, as well as the shape of the male and female anal shield. Both, barcoding and the morphological study identify the British Trachysphaera populations as T. lobata.

The Black Pill Millipede,Glomeris marginata, is the best studied millipede species and a model organism for Diplopoda.Glomeris marginatais widespread, with numerous colour morphs occurring across its range, especially in the south. This study investigates whether colour morphs might represent cryptic species as well as the haplotype diversity and biogeography ofG. marginata. The results of the COI barcoding fragment analysis include 97G. marginata, as well as 21 specimens from seven potentially related species:G. intermediaLatzel, 1884,G. klugiiBrandt, 1833 (G. undulataC.L. Koch, 1844),G. connexaKoch, 1847,G. hexastichaBrandt, 1833,G. maerensAttems, 1927,G. annulataBrandt, 1833 andG. apuanaVerhoeff, 1911. The majority of the barcoding data was obtained through the German Barcode of Life project (GBOL). Interspecifically,G. marginatais separated from its congeners by a minimum uncorrected genetic distance of 12.9 %, confirming its monophyly. Uncorrected intraspecific distances ofG. marginataare comparable to those of other widespreadGlomerisspecies, varying between 0–4.7%, with the largest genetic distances (>2.5 %) found at the Mediterranean coast. 97 sampled specimens ofG. marginatayielded 47 different haplotypes, with identical haplotypes occurring at large distances from one another, and different haplotypes being present in populations occurring in close proximity. The highest number of haplotypes was found in the best-sampled area, western Germany. The English haplotype is identical to northern Spain; specimens from southern Spain are closer to French Mediterranean specimens. Analyses (CHAO1) show that approximately 400 different haplotypes can be expected inG. marginata. To cover all haplotypes, it is projected that up to 6,000 specimens would need to be sequenced, highlighting the impossibility of covering the whole genetic diversity in barcoding attempts of immobile soil arthropod species.

Specimens of the North American glomerid millipede Onomeris sinuata (Loomis, 1943) were collected at the type locality in Alabama, USA, and maintained briefly in the laboratory in native leaf litter. The millipedes could not be induced to produce defensive secretions by rough handling, tapping, squeezing or leg-pinching. Four specimens were extracted in methanol and the extract analyzed using gas chroma-tography/mass spectroscopy. The analysis revealed the alkaloids glomerin and homoglomerin, previously reported as components in the defensive secretion of the European glomerid Glomeris marginata (Villers, 1789). This report is only the second for the occurrence of quinazolinone alkaloids in animals. Keywords Onomeris sinuata , Glomeris marginata , quinazolinone alkaloids, Alabama, USA Introduction Nearly simultaneously in 1966, Schildknecht et al. (1966)and Meinwald et al. (1966) announced the discovery of two quinazolinone alkaloids in the defensive secre-tion of the European millipede Glomeris marginata