Phylum

Arthropoda
 Phylum Arthropoda
“jointed feet”
• Characteristics:
– segmentation
– Jointed, paire appendages
– Exoskeleton – chitin
– Cephalization
– Compound eyes
– Coelom
– Open circulatory system
– Ventral nerve cord
 Major features of Arthropods:
1. Jointed appendages
2. Evolved segmentation
3. Exoskeleton
4. Unique body systems
5. The most biologically successful of all
animals
 Jointed appendages
• Modified, specialized, and adapted
for:
– Locomotion (walking legs, “tails”,
wings)
– Feeding (mouthparts, pincers)
– Sensory reception (antennae)
– Defense (pincers, stingers)
– Copulation (egg and sperm deposit)
 Evolved segmentation
–Fusion of segments and specialization
via function of body
• Tagmata – head, thorax (chest),
abdomen
–Efficient body plan (division of labor)
 Specialized Arthropod Segments: Reduction in Metamerism

• The evolution of the arthropods witnessed a reduction in

metamerism
• The arthropods evolved modified groups of segments (e.g.,
segments became lost, some fused together
•The fusion of groups of segments into functional groups is called
tagmatization
• In so doing, various appendages on segments became specialized for
functions other than locomotion, e.g. prey capture, filter feeding,
sensing various kinds of stimuli, gas exchange, copulation, etc.
 The Exoskelton
• The exoskelton is composted of the
polysaccharide chitin. An arthropod can
not grow without periodically shedding the
exoskeleton. This process is called molting
or edcysis. During the few days following
the replacement of the exoskeleton, the
animal is extremely vulnerable and must
hide from predators. There is also the
problem of desiccation.
 Exoskeleton
• Exoskeleton – a hardened cuticle of
protein and chitin
–For protection, body structure, and
muscle attachment
–Prevents water loss
–Thick and hard in some areas
–Paper thin and flexible in others
(jointed areas)
–Ecdysis – molting process
• Allows arthropods to grow
• Molting is energetically expensive
and leaves arthropods vulnerable
 • Structure of the Exoskeleton
• Composed of the polysaccharide chitin
and protein - glycoprotein
• Outer surface called the epicuticle;
contains waxes
• The thicker portion is called the
procuticle:
• exocuticle
• endocuticle
• In the exocuticle, the glycoprotein chains
are cross linked; process is called tanning
 epicuticle

exocuticle
procuticle

endocuticle

epidermis
 Molting
• In order to grow, the arthropod must shed its exoskeleton,
and secrete a new and larger one - molting or ecdysis.
 Advantages & Disadvantages
of the Exoskeleton
• Advantages
– Protection
– Support
– Site for muscle attachment
– Flexible at the joints
• Disadvantages
– Heavy
– Must be molted
 Body Systems
• Respiratory system
– Internalized lungs or gills for diffusion
of gas, despite having an exoskeleton.
– Most insects have a tracheal system that
is branched leading to pores along the
exoskeleton (believed that this system
limits the size of bugs)
 Gills
• Many aquatic arthropods (crabs and lobsters) have
gills, which are typically modifications of
appendages or outgrowths of the body wall - folds of
tissue with a large surface area.
Tracheae
• Gas exchange organs among terrestrial arthropods is
usually internal; invaginations of the integument

• Insects have tracheae, branching networks of

hollow air conducting tubes such that air is sent to
every cell in every tissue
 Book Lungs
• Spiders have book lungs, chambers with
leaf-like plates for exchanging gases; air
flows over the plates and blood flows
through them
 • Arthropod Respiratory
Advances
• Special respiratory structures allow the
arthropods to metabolize more efficiently
and thus move rapidly
• High metabolic rates require rapid oxygen
delivery, and arthropods can accomplish
this with respiratory organs that have a
large surface area for collecting oxygen
quickly
 Open circulatory system
– Hemolymph is the fluid pumped by the
heart through short arteries and spills into
sinus spaces, called hemocoels,
surrounding tissues and organs (not part
of the body cavity)
 Digestive System
Divided into 3 main regions: foregut, midgut,
and hindgut.
• Foregut and the hindgut are lined with chitin
• Foregut is involved with ingestion,
mechanical breakdown, and storage.
• Hindgut is involved with water absorption
and formation of the feces.
• Midgut is not lined with chitin;
involved with digestion and
absorption.
• Outpockets (e.g. digestive glands)
increase the surface area for digestion
and absorption
 Reproduction
Sexes are separate;
fertilization is external in
aquatic forms, internal
among the terrestrial forms
Internal Transport and Excretion

• Open circulatory system

• Many crustaceans possess an excretory organ
called the green gland (antennal gland), which
filters fluid from the blood

• Most insects and spiders have a excretory

system called malpighian tubules
 Sensory System
• Sensory system is highly developed and Complex
– Compound eyes (most insects)
• 1,000’s of lenses – vision looks like a tile mosaic
• Excellent at detecting motion
– Antennae (touch/vibrations and smell sensors)
– Pheromones - Chemical messages or “smells”
– Used by insects of a species to communicate with
members of the same species.
• Reproduction (mate attraction)
• Trail markers (ants)
• Alarm signals (ants, bees)
• Queen – messages to colony
 Acute Senses
• Arthropods have a well-developed nervous system that is of the same
overall design as the annelids; anterior brain and a double, ventral hollow
nerve cord.
• The sensory receptors of arthropods are usually associated with
modifications of the chitinous exoskeleton
• The head usually bears various kinds of sense organs (e.g. antennae)
with extreme sensitivity
 Acute Senses cont.
•Many arthropods have compound eyes - eyes that are composed of
many visual units called facets (ommatidia); capable of color vision and
detecting the slightest movements of prey or predators
• Some eyes are simple eyes with only a few photoreceptors; however,
they are capable of forming crude images
 Compound Eye

Lens
Crystalline cone
Facet Pigment cells
Visual cells
Nerve fibers from visual cells

Optic nerve
Ommatidia
 Biologically successful
Over half of all known species belong to the
arthropod phylum
 Diverse organisms
–Specialized structures (wings)
–Well adapted senses (compound eyes &
antennae)
–Live in a great variety of environments
(exoskeleton – not bound to water)
• aquatic & terrestrial
High reproductive potential (quickly
reproduce)
–Many lay 1,000’s of eggs during life
Immeasurably vast ecological impact
–Food sources
–Detrivores – eat dead, decaying organisms
(nature’s recyclers)
–Pollinators
• Help plant populations
–Pests
• Fleas, ticks, mosquitoes
• Agricultural pests
• “Home invaders”
Arthropod Diversity
 Four evolutionary arthropod
lineages
• a. Trilobites – extinct
• b. Chelicerates – horseshoe crabs,
spiders
• c. Uniramians – centipedes, millipedes,
insects
• d. Crustaceans – crabs, lobsters,
barnacles
 Subphylum Trilobita
• A group of extinct marine arthropods.
• Ranged in size from a few millimeters
up to 75 centimeters.
• Body divided into three parts:
– cephalon (head), a single plate
made up of several fused segments
– thorax, consists of a number of
segments hinged together
– pygidium (tail), also segmented,
but like the head, fused together
into a single plate.
• Compound eye, composed of radially
arranged visual units
Subphylum Chelicerata
• Lack antennae
• Body is usually composed of two regions: cephalothorax and
abdomen
• Cephalothorax is usually covered dorsally by the carapace
• Six pairs of appendages: first pair are modified feeding structures -
chelicerae
• Second pair are called pedipalps
• Four additional pairs of
appendages are walking
legs
• No abdominal appendages
• Some have compound
eyes, usually have simple
eyes capable of forming
crude images.
Class Meristomata (e.g., Horeshoe crabs)

• Marine chelicerates, common off of the Atlantic and Gulf coasts

• Large dorsal carapace bearing compound eyes
• Possess chelicerae, pedipalps, and 4 pair of walking legs (all but
the last pair are chelate
• Abdomen terminates in a long tail called the telson; used to turn
the animal right side up
• Possess a series of gill plates called book gills
 Horseshoe Crab

• Mates during spring and summer full and new

moons, onto ocean beaches.
• Females lay up to 30 thousand eggs, which
males fertilize before burying them in the sand
Class Arachnida
• Among spiders, the cephalothorax and abdomen shows no external
segmentation; tagma are joined by a narrow pedicel
• Respiration is accomplished via book lungs, tracheae, or both
• Usually have 8 simple eyes; at the very least they detect motion; for some of
the predatory forms, they are capable of forming crude images
• Many species have evolved poison glands associated with the chelicerae

Black widow

Brown recluse
Class Arachnida cont.

• Many of the spiders and mites

are capable of producing silk;
produced by silk glands that
open to the exterior part of the
abdomen through spinnerets
• Silk is used to build webs for
trapping prey, nests which serve
as retreats, and egg cases; it is
also used to form a dragline
• Most spiders are predaceous
and have all kinds of sensory
hairs and relatively well-
developed eyes for motion
detection

Orb web construction

Prey capture among the spiders

• Some species are cursorial predators, those

that stalk and ambush their prey; they usually
have well-developed eyes

Jumping spider
•Others are web building spiders, those
that construct various kinds of webs made
of silk to trap their prey
• Eyes are not as well developed as cursorial
predators, but they have a battery of sensory
hairs for detecting vibrations

Grass spider
 Subphylum Uniramia
• Classes
– Insecta
– Diplopoda
• Millipedes
• 2 pair of legs on each body segment
• Rounded bodies
• Poor vision with a good sense of smell
• Feed on plants or decaying plant matter
• Secrete a noxious fluid that contains cyanide when
threatened
SubPhylum Uniramia

• Single pair of antennae

• First pair of feeding appendages are mandibles
• There are one or 2 pairs of maxillae
• Number of legs vary from 3 pair to many pairs; they are unbranched
or uniramous
SubPhylum Uniramia cont.

Class Chilopoda (Centipedes)

• Serial segmented, flattened body and each segment has a pair of jointed
appendages
• Active predators, killing their prey with poison claws, which are
modified legs on first segment
Characteristics:
1 pair of legs per body segment
1 pair of poison claws/fangs underneath the
head
Antennae present
Simple eyes
Flatter body
SubPhylum Uniramia cont.

Class Diplopoda (Millipedes)

• Serially segmented, rounded body with 2 smaller pairs of legs per
segment
• Slow moving; feed on decaying plants
 Diplopod
• Characteristics
– Simple eyes if present, although many have no
eyes
– 1 pair of antennae
– Chewing mouthparts
– Although it looks like millipedes have 2 pair of
legs on each segment, closer examination
shows that each body segment is actually 2
segments fused together.
– More circular shaped body
–Millipedes are timid
invertebrates and unlike
centipedes, do not have
poisonous claws so to protect
themselves and to discourage
predators they roll into a tight
spiral and often discharge a
foul smelling, distasteful
odor.
Insects
Class Insecta
• Body is divided into 3 parts: the head, thorax and
the abdomen.
• Head has one pair of antennae, a pair of
compound eyes and several sets of simple eyes
• Mouthparts: a pair of mandibles, and two pairs of
maxillae
• One pair of maxillae are fused together to form a
lower lip - labium
• An upper lip - labrum - formed from an
extension of the head
Class Insecta cont.
• Mouthparts are highly modified depending on the group you are
discussing
• Mosquitoes have pointed mouthparts for piercing and sucking;
grasshoppers have mouthparts that are well adapted for chewing;
butterflies for siphoning; flies for sponging
Class Insecta
• Thorax is composed of 3 segments and
each one has a pair of legs; the last two
segments also have a pair of wings.
• Wings of insects are modified portions of
the exoskeleton
• 1st pair is usually tough and leathery and
fold over the inner pair for protection.
• Abdomen does not have appendages;
terminal portions do harbor the
reproductive structures
Most insects undergo metamorphosis

Incomplete Metamorphosis (Hemimetabolous)

• Early developmental stages are very similar to the adults; only the
wings and the reproductive structures gradually develop
• The immature stages are called nymphs
• Thus development is egg----> nymphs ----> adult
Complete Metamorphosis (Holometabolous)

• Each of the
developmental stages is
structurally and
functionally very
different
• The egg develops into
an immature larva; eats
voraciously
• Followed by a
transitional stage -
pupa, contained within
cocoon
• Metamorphosis occurs
within the pupal
exoskeleton, yielding a
sexually mature adult
SubPhylum Crustacea
• Possess 2 pair of antennae: First pair is homologous to those of
insects; second pair is unique to the crustaceans
• Second antennae have various functions, including sensory,
locomotion or feeding.
• The head bears a pair of compound eyes and 3 pairs of mouthparts: a
pair of mandibles, and 2 pairs of maxillae; used for food handling
• Trunk varies considerably among
classes
• Primitively, the first three pairs of
thoracic segments are maxillipeds;
function in handling food
• Also, there are usually 5 pairs of
appendages strengthened for
walking (walking legs) and
protection (chelipeds, pincer-like
claws)
SubPhylum Crustacea cont.

•Abdomen is also highly variable, but it is primitively large

• Groups with a well-developed abdomen usually possess six pairs
of appendages: Five pairs of structures called swimmerets
(=pleopods); one pair of structures called uropods,
• Uropods together with the terminal telson form a tail fan than can
serve as rudders during locomotion
SubPhylum Crustacea cont.

•Primitively many of the appendages of the crustaceans are

biramous: there is an outer exopod and an inner endopod
• They usually have an extremely hardened exoskeleton, which is
impregnated with calcium carbonate - carapace
SubPhylum Crustacea cont.

• The primitive larva of the crustaceans is called the nauplius larva

• It has an unsegmented body, a frontal eye, and 3 pairs of
appendages, representing the 2 pairs of antennae and the mandibles
 Subphylum Crustacea
ANOSTRACA
• fairy shrimp and brine shrimp
PHYLLOPODA
• tadpole shrimps, ostracod, water fleas
MALACOSTRACA
• the largest, most heterogeneous, and diverse crustacean
taxon
• shrimps, crabs, lobsters, mantis shrimps, pillbugs,
crayfishes
COPEPODA
• copepods
• enormous ecological importance as planktonic
herbivores
CIRRIPEDIA
• barnacles
 Crustacean Diversity
Ostracod

Copepod Water flea

Fairy shrimp Fish louse

Barnacles are Crustaceans!
Similarities between Annelids and Arthropods

• Arthropods are metameric and their segments have appendages

• Nervous system with ventral nerve cords

Phylum Onychophora
Annelid-like
• Segmented; unjointed
appendages; similarity in structure
of the body wall; segmentally
arranged nephridia; pigment-cup
ocelli

Arthropod-like
Peripatus, a small, nocturnal form found
• Reduced coelom, open among the leaf-litter of tropical forests of
circulatory system, tracheal South America.
system; soft cuticle composed of
chitin
The fossil record indicates that onychophorans have not
changed much in 500 million years.

The Onychophoran Aysheaia from the Cambrian.

A lobe-limbed, segmented animal. Also note the spines on the legs.
The head end has a pair of tapering limbs with spines, and three small
projections near the mouth. Traces of the digestive tract can also be
seen.
Phylum Tardigrada or “water bears” also have features in common
with both annelids and arthropods

Annelid-like
• Unjointed (8) legs; annelid-type
nervous system

Arthropod-like
• Presence of a cuticle
(nonchitinous) that is periodically
molted; similar attachment of
muscle fibers to exoskeleton

• One of the most interesting features of tardigrads is their

ability to undergo cryptobiosis
Difference of the different classes