PHYLUM ARTHROPODA

Characteristics
This group is very important. There are more species in this phylum than all
other combined, estimated 900,000, living in air, water, soil, parasites (animal and
plants). They are even found in Antarctica. Animals: extinct trilobites, horseshoe
crabs, arachnids, crustaceans, insects, myripods, etc. They are thought to have a
polychaeta ancestor, they are segmented. Tagmentization- fusion of somites
(segments) to form functional complexes (ex: 6 somites = head, 3 somites = thorax,
etc.). They have jointed appendages that lift the body off of substrate, greater
movement ability than worms. Appendages also diversified and have many
functions, mandibles for chewing, maxilla to put food in mouth, uropods and
swimmerets to swim, pedipalps various functions. They have exoskeleton that is
harder than the cuticle of annelids and is made of chitin and proteins. The proteins
undergo process called sclerotization which is like tanning to make it tougher.
Arthropods have great diversity of size, microscopic to giant crabs that have
8-10 ft leg spans. The vast majority are small and 95% are smaller than a cricket.
This is so they can live in different habitats and microhabitats. They can go under
a metamorphosis where juveniles and adults live and look differently. This reduces
competition between parent and young and increases chance of survival. They are
protostomes, schizocoelmates (cavity reduced to pericardial chamber). Derived
from spiral cleavage but many do not have spiral cleavage any more, many now
have specialized cleavage patterns.
Body Systems and Life Functions
1. Integument
a. Have thick cuticle referred to as an exoskeleton
b. Secreted by underlying hypodermis
c. Made of complex plates called sclerites that hinge to allow movement
d. Made of chitin (polysaccharide) and proteins
e. Cuticle is multilayered
i. Layer 1- epicuticle that contains waxes and proteins, tough and
helps prevent water loss (hydrophobic molecules resist water)
ii.Layer 2- procuticle that has 2 layers
1. Exocuticle- made of chitin and has bulk of sclerotization
of protein, hardest layer
2. Endocuticle- made of chitin and unsclerotized proteins,
softer layer
iii.Layer 3- epidermis

f. Arthropods have to molt since exoskeleton does not grow

g. Growth is step wise and animal usually increases 1.3X
h. Shed skin is known as ecdysis and the hormone that controls molting is
called ecdysone
i. Steps in molting
i. Molting gel secreted between old cuticle and epidermis, this
contains enzymes
ii.New epicuticle forms over the epidermis
iii.Enzymes in the molting gel become active and start to digest
old cuticle, without new cuticle the enzymes would digest
animal
iv.Animal absorbs some of the old exoskeleton to use in building
new cuticle
v. What is left of the epicuticle and exocuticle splits at predestined
fracture points and animal crawls out
vi.To expand new cuticle the animal takes in water(crustaceans) or
air (insects)
vii.Cuticle starts to harden within days is hard
j. Larval stages of flies and butterflies will molt before go into cocoons.
2. Muscular System
a. Extremely complex
b. Can use hydrostatic pressure to move (spiders)
c. Can have muscles connected to each joint under the exoskeleton
d. There are opposing sets of muscles
e. Body wall also has longitudinal and circular muscles
f. There may be specialized muscles for eating or other functions
g. Cuticle provides sites for attachment for all muscles
3. Skeletal System
a. Exoskeleton
4. Digestive System
a. Mouth- pharynx- esophagus (often)- stomachs for pumping- intestinesanus
b. The mouth and pharynx are called the foregut
c. Stomach is called midgut
d. Intestines and anus called the hindgut
e. Pharynx is usually a suction producing structure for system
f. Digestion done by series of paired digestive glands connecting to the
stomachs
g. The mid and hindgut has a cuticle and when the animal molts the
linings are molted too

i. Termites molt and lose parasites that digest the wood, so they
either eat molted exoskeleton or do coprophagy (eat feces of
another) to get parasites back
5. Feeding
a. Can be parasites, predatory, herbivores, scavengers, etc.
b. Animals usually have specialized mouth appendages or accessory
mouth parts to aid in feeding
c. Ex:
i. Some have capture, sensory, or both appendages
ii.Ticks have hypostome adapted for hanging on
iii.Mosquitoes have long tube-like appendages for sucking blood
iv.Spiders have fangs
v. Scorpions have appendages for capture and tearing food
6. Excretory
a. Cuticular excretion in some tiny forms
b. Crustaceans have mandibular gland and antennal gland (green gland)
that filter and release wastes
c. Arachnids have coxal glands on the coxa of legs (paired in the
cephalothorax), malpighian tubules in the abdomen that channel fluid
to gut and wastes leave through anus (gland is mesodermal)
d. Insects have malpighian tubules (look similar but are different), they
differ embryologically since they are ectodermal, also have rectal pads
that filter wastes and helps to reclaim water
7. Respiratory System
a. Cuticular respiration in small forms
b. Crustaceans- true gill that grow out of integument and are
vascularized, associated with appendages
c. Horseshoe crabs- book gills
d. Arachnids- book lungs and spider may have tracheae, air chamber in
book lung has 100% humidity to exchange gas, tracheae the tips called
the tracheoles is where gas is exchanged, tubules go to organs so there
is no circulatory system, based on concentration of oxygen and carbon
dioxide
e. Insects- have tracheae that has paired systems on the sides of the
thorax and abdomen, openings called spiracles go to tracheal tubes
then to limbs where dead end (todays atmosphere limits the size of
insects, in Carboniferous period oxygen was higher and insects where
bigger)
8. Nervous System
a. More advanced than annelids

b. Complex dorsal brain (fused ganglia of several head segments)

c. 3 paired parts or lobes of the adjacent somites
d. There is the circumpharyngeal connections- subesphogeal gangliathen paired ventral nerve cord with ventral ganglia (not paired in every
segment cause of fusion)
9. Sensory System
a. Vision, most have eyes
i. Simple eyes or ocelli- have photoreceptor cells that connect to a
nerve to the brain, used to measure day lengths for internal clock
ii.Compound eyes- have many clusters of lens, each lens has own
system of pigments and photoreceptor cells, the ommatidium
(photoreceptive units) is the functional unit of the compound
eye, each eye can have 5 to 100s of these, may see mosaic
images that are not sharp and good for detecting movement,
eyes come in day forms and night forms, day forms have fixed
pigments so cannot see at night, night eyes have movable
pigments so can scatter light stimulating more cells to get a clear
image
b. Some may have setae for sensing
c. Lots of other sensory types
10.Circulatory System
a. Open system
b. Dorsal ostiate heart is enclosed in a pericardial sac (hemocoel) filled
with blood, this is the schizocoel
c. The large and expansive hemocoel has muscles that draw blood into
the heart
d. There are circuits to and from the respiratory organs excluding the
tracheae
11.Reproductive System
a. Dioecious but barnacles can be both
b. Males
i. Testes, sperm ducts (vas deferens), male pores, and some may
have seminal vesicles
ii.Have copulatory structures, like in insects may have aediagus
c. Females
i. Ovaries, oviducts, uterus, vagina
ii.May have seminal receptacles called spermathacae
d. There are many appendages for sperm transfer
i. Direct copulation- male has a penis (aediagus in insects)

ii.Indirect transfer- may use spermatophore to transfer, this

method there is usually an elaborate courtship ritual to guide the
female over the packet, some rely on female to find the sperm
by pheromones, the object is deposited on a substrate that
carries the sperm and female retrieves the sperm
iii.Asexual reproduction- by parthenogenesis, female produces
diploid eggs that develop into animal, no males and is rare,
female may also produce haploid males that mate and die
Classification
Subphylum Trilobita
1. Body trilobed in cross section (main central part of body and two smaller
lateral lobes)
2. Body divisions include cephalon (covered by carapace bearing compound
eyes), thorax, and pygidium (small tail shield)
3. One pair of antennae, other appendages more or less identical, biramous
(two-branched), and leg like
4. Mouth simple ventral opening not flanked by modified appendages
(mouthparts)
5. Probably most trilobites were deposit feeders or scavengers
Subphylum Chelicerata
1. Size ranging from very small (mites) to fossil eurypterids up to 3 meters in
length
2. Body divisions: cephalothorax (covered dorsally by a carapace), and
abdomen (may be followed by a tail spine, curved sting, or other structures),
only cephalothorax bears appendages for movement
3. Appendages: chelicerae (mouth parts: spider fangs, tick hypostome, little
pinchers in scorpions), pedipalps (often pincer like), 4 pairs of legs, antennae
are absent, appendages are uniramous (single branch)
4. Compound eyes present only in merostomes and fossil scorpions
5. Class Merostomata (horseshoe crabs, extinct eurypterids)
a. Horseshoe crabs very distinctive with body divided into horseshoeshaped cephalothorax (bearing compound and simple eyes), dorsally
fused abdomen, and long spine-like telson
b. Appendage of cephalothorax: small chelicerae, simple pedipalps, four
pairs of legs (chelicerae, pedipalps, and first 3 pairs of legs end in
small pinchers), medial surface of leg coxae are used to crush food
material (small invertebrates, algae, etc.)

c. Abdominal appendages include fused flaps called genital opercula

(conceals genital pores), posterior to those are 5 book gill covers
(underside has paired patches of book gill lamellae)
6. Class Arachnida (spiders, scorpions, ticks, etc.)
a. Based mainly on terrestrial characteristics- book lungs or tracheae,
malpighian tubules excrete solid guanine, development of preoral
chamber for external digestion of food
b. Appendages- chelicerae (variously modified, depending on feeding
style), pedipalps (diverse in function), 4 legs, no locomotion
appendages on abdomen but there is genital opercula and some have
specialized appendages such as pectines (sensory in scorpions) and
spinnerets (spiders)
c. With the exception of certain mites (parasitic on plants and animals)
and all ticks (parasitic on animals) arachnids are predatory
Subphylum Crustacea
1. Size from microscopic (copepods etc.) up to 12 ft (leg span) in Japanese
spider crab
2. Body divisions: cephalothorax (covered dorsally by carapace usually with
compound eyes), abdomen, usually a telson
3. Appendages- primitively biramous (protopod branching into exopod and
endopod), some have at least a few biramous appendages, 2 pairs of
antennae, mandibles, maxillae, and legs, other appendages (not present in all)
include maxillipeds, chelipeds, swimmerets, uropods
4. Cuticle (unlike other arthropods except millipedes) is calcified
5. Gills are present in all except terrestrial groups (isopods) and are always
associated with appendages, great variation exists in the structure and
location of gills
6. Many have nauplius larva some have direct development
7. Class Branchiopoda
a. Note worthy for several reasons
b. Cladocerans are among the most important members of planktonic
communities in freshwater systems, forming critical link between
phytoplankton and carnivorous zooplankton and fish
c. Fairy shrimp and tadpole shrimp are characteristic faunal components
of ephemeral waters such as playa lakes, dormant in dry soil in egg
stage, hatch out when rains and complete life cycle, success in habitats
usually since no fish present
d. Some (brine shrimp) are capable of thriving in salt lakes and ponds
e. Nauplius larva

8. Class Ostracoda
a. Marine group
b. Bivalve carapace, some parthenogenic
c. Fossil indicator of oil deposits
d. Nauplius larva
9. Class Copepoda
a. Mostly marine group of important planktonic crustaceans (as important
in ocean as branchiopods are in freshwater)
b. Incredibly abundant and prolific- estimate that 10 cubic meter of sea
water in Baltic Sea produced 9 billion copepods and year
c. Most planktonic forms are herbivorous (actively capture planktonic
diatoms with second maxillae) some are predatory or omnivorous
d. Half species in subclass are parasitic and some have bizarre body
designs
e. Nauplius larva
10.Class Cirripedia
a. Barnacles, all marine
b. Typical are sessile using a stalk to attach to substrate
c. Secrete calcareous plates around bodies
d. Use special appendages called cirri for filter feeding
e. Once thought to be molluscs but have nauplius larva
11.Class Malacostraca
a. Largest class of crustaceans, 60% of species
b. Very familiar forms
c. Group defined as having 14 trunk segments, all bearing appendages, 8
of these are considered the thorax and the remaining 6 constitute the
abdomen
d. Order Isopods- terrestrial and marine forms, sow and pill bugs
e. Order Amphipoda- beach hoppers/fleas
f. Order Decapoda- shrimp, lobster, crab, crayfish, have 10 legs
Subphylum Myriapoda
1. Class Chilopoda
a. Centipedes
b. Body divisions- head and trunk, trunk with numerous segments each
with pair of uniramous legs
c. Appendages: antennae, mandibles, 2 pair of maxillae and each trunk
segment bearing a pair of legs, 1st pair of legs modified into poison
fangs, last pair elongated and serve sensory function or for grasping
(pincher like)

d. All are predaceous, some have painful bite

2. Class Diplopoda
a. Millipedes
b. Body division- head and trunk, trunk with numerous segments each
appearing to have two pairs of legs (each segment is a diplosegment
resulting from fusion of adjacent embryonic somites- 2 pairs of legs in
adult segment)
c. Cuticle is calcified
d. Appendages- antennae, mandibles, 1 pair of maxillae (fused into a
plate called the gnathochilarium), trunk with numerous diplosegments
as described above
e. Millipedes are not venomous, but secrete noxious chemicals through
paired pores in the body segments, will also coil up for defense
f. Important decomposers, feeding on decaying plant matter
Subphylum Hexapoda
1. Typically with a distinct head capsule composed of anterior 6 somites and
bearing one pair of antennae, a pair of mandibles, and 2 pairs of maxillae
(may be fused in some)
2. All appendages are uniramous
3. Most terrestrial and respire using tracheae
4. Forms with aquatic larva have tracheal gills in that stage and tracheae as
adults
5. Class Insecta
a. Body division- head (6 somites, compound eyes), thorax (3 segments:
prothorax, mesothorax, metathorax), and abdomen (primitively with 11
segments, now 5-6 segments)
b. Appendages- 1 pair antennae, 1 pair mandibles, 1 pair maxillae, 1
labium (fused 2nd maxillae), 3 pairs of legs arise from the 3 segments
of thorax, wings from mesothorax and metathorax (some
modifications: flies have mesothoracic wings and metathoracic pair
reduced to balancing organs called halters, beetles 1st pair hardened to
form elytra and the 2nd pair membranous)
c. Exoskeleton rigidity from scleroproteins so it is lighter than
crustaceans
d. Insects are the only invertebrates to fly
e. Metamorphosis
1. Direct (ametabolous)- few species

2. Incomplete metamorphosis (hemimetabolous)- young are

aquatic and adults are not, egg- nymph (several instars)- adult,
instar is the stage between molts
3. Complete metamorphosis (holometabolous)- 88% of arthropods,
egg- larva- pupa in chrysalis (non feeding stage)- adult, often
larva differ from adult in form, behavior, and feeding
f. Beneficial Insects
1. Pollinators
2. Make useful material (wax, silk)
3. Clean up (maggots)
4. Control other insects
g. Harmful Insects
1. Destroy crops
2. Spread disease
3. Parasites