Phylum Arthropoda

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 Phylum Arthropoda
• Approximately 900,000 species of
arthropods recorded.
• Bilaterally symmetry, metameric body
divide into tagmata consists of head and
trunk; head, thorax and abdomen or
cephalothorax and abdomen
• Segmentation and jointed appendages for
more efficient locomotion
• Exoskeleton of cuticle containing
protein, lipid, and often calcium 2
 General characteristics
• Complete digestive system
• Open circulatory system, with oral contractile heart, arteries and homocoel
• Excretory gland called coxal, antennal or maxillary glands
• Complex muscular system
• Reduced coelom. schizocoelous
• Highly developed sensory organs
• Air pipe directly to cells
• Sex usually separate, with paired reproductive organs and ducts; usually
internal fertilization; oviparous or ovoviparous; often with metamorphosis;
parthenogenesis in some

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 Major Arthropod Taxa
1. Subphylum Trilobita
- extinct trilobites

2. Subphylum Chelicerata
– horseshoe crabs, spiders, ticks, mites, and some extinct groups

3. Subphylum Myriapoda
– centipedes, millipedes

4. Subphylum Crustacea
– crabs, lobsters, shrimps, barnacles

5. Subphylum Hexapoda
– Insects

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 Subphylum Trilobita

• tri= three; lobos= lobes

• Divided into 3 longitudinal regions

• Extinct

• Oval, flattened

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 Subphylum Chelicerata

• Horseshoe crabs, spiders, ticks,

mites, scorpions

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 Subphylum Chelicerata (cont’d)

• Cephalothorax (prosoma)
– Fused head and thoracic region
• Abdomen (opisthosoma)
– contains digestive, reproductive,
excretory, and respiratory organs

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 Subphylum Chelicerata (cont’d)

• Appendages attached to cephalothorax

– Pair of chelicerae (clawlike feeding appendages)

– Pair of pedipalps (usually sensing or feeding)

– four pairs of legs (5 in horseshoe crabs)

– No antenna

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 Subphylum Chelicerata (cont’d)

• No antennae
• Most suck liquid food from prey

mite
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 Class Arachnida
• Spiders, ticks, scorpions

• Most are predaceous

Brown recluse
• Most are harmless/beneficial to
humans
Scorpion
• Some spiders (ie. black widow,
brown recluse spider) give painful,
dangerous bites
• Scorpion sting can be painful,
dangerous

Black widow

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 Class Arachnida (cont’d)

• Some ticks and mites spread disease, cause

irritation
• Lyme disease
– Caused by tick

tick
Dust mite 11
 Subphylum Myriapoda
• They are “many footed”

• All myrapods are terrestrial

• As such they show similar adaptation to prevent desiccation and

enhance land based mobilities that where seen in the arachinids
• They have madibles for crushing food items

• Trachea system for gas exchange

• Excretion of nitrogenous wastes via malpigian tubules

• One pair of antenna

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 Classes of Myriapoda

• Class Chilopoda

• Class Diplopoda

• Class Chilopoda (Centipedes)

• Segmented flattened body (dorsoventrally flattened with

first body segment appendages modified in to poison fangs)

• One pair of appendage per somite (segment)

• Each segment has a pair of jointed appendages

• Active predators kill prey with poison claws and fangs

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(modified leg on the first segment)
 Class Diplopoda (Millpedes)

• Serially segmented
rounded bodies
– Two small pair of
legs per segment
• Slow moving feed on
decaying plants
(scavengers or
herbivores)

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 Subphylum Crustacea
• Phylum Arthropoda
lobsters

– Subphylum Crustacea
• crusta= shell

• Lobster, crayfish,
shrimp, crab, water Daphnia

shrimp
flea, barnacles
crabs

amphipods

euphausids
amphipods (krill)
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 The Crustaceans (cont’d)
lobsters
• Aquatic (mostly marine)
– a few terrestrial forms

• Major ecological and

economical importance.
shrimp
• Only arthropods with 2 pairs of
antennae
euphausids
(krill)
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• Great specialization of appendages
– Mouthparts chewing, grinding, handling

– appendages strengthened for walking or protection

(chelipeds, pincer-like claws)

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Subphylum Hexapoda
 General characterstics
– body divided in to destinict regions

– head

– thorax and

– abdomen
• the thorax bears three pair of walking legs
• and species with wings one or two pair of wings
• no abdomenal appendages
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• malpiantubules and tracheal system present
General structures
a. Head-sensory, neural integration and feeding
i. antenna

ii. mouth part

iii. compound eyes and ocelli

b. thorax-locomotion
i. three parts, pro, meso-, metathorax

ii. drsal (top) sclerites are called nota (notum sing.)

iii. sides are called pluera (pleuron sing.)

iv. venteral sclerites are sterna (sternum sing.)

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c. abdomen- houses the visceral
mass and reproductive
structures

i. segments or metamers

ii. dorsal scelerites are called

terga (tergum sing.)

iii. the membranous lateral

regions are called pleura
(like the thorax)

iv. venteral sclerates called

sterna)