ARTHROPOD Biology

CHARACTERISTICS
 SECTION OBJECTIVES

 Evaluate the importance of exoskeletons, jointed appendages,

and segmentation to arthropods

 Compare organ system adaptations in arthropods

 Differentiate arthropod organs that enable them to maintain

homeostasis
 THE ROAD SO FAR…

 Kin g do m An i mal i a  K i n g dom An i m a l i a

 Section 3:  Section 5:
 Phyl um Pori fera – spo n g es  Phylum Nematoda (roundworms)
 Class Demospongiae (demosponges)  Include trichinella worms, hookworms, ascarid
 Class Calcarea (calcareous sponges) worms, pinworms and filarial worms
 Class Hexactinellida (glass sponges)
 Phyl um Cn i da ri a – cn i da ri a n s
 Class Hydrozoa (hydras)
 Class Scyphozoa (jellyfish)
 Class Cubozoa (box jellyfish)
 Class Anthozoa (anemones and coral)
 Section 4:
 Phyl um P l a tyh el m i n th es – fla tworm s
 Class Turbellaria (planarians)
 Class Trematodes (flukes)
 Class Cestoda (tapeworms)
 Phyl um Mo l l usca – m o l l usks
 Class Gastropoda (snails and slugs)
 Class Pelecypoda (bivalves)
 Class Cephalopoda (cephalopods)
 Phyl um An n el i da – seg m en te d worm s
 Class Oligochaeta (earthworms and their relatives)
 Class Polychaeta (bristleworms and their relatives)
 Class Hirudinea (the leeches)
 …AND NOW

 Phylum Arthropoda – arthropods

 Class Crustacea (crabs, shrimp, lobsters, pill pugs)
 Class Arachnida (spiders, ticks, mites, and scorpions)
 Class Merostomata (horseshoe crabs)
 Class Insecta (insects)
 Class Chilopoda (centipedes)
 Class Diplopoda (millipedes)
 ARTHROPOD FEATURES

 Phylum Arthropoda
 Includes between 70 and 85 percent of all named animal species

Percentage of Arthropod Species

Beetles
5.2 12.1 Butterflies, moths
3.4 Flies
36.2 Bees, wasps
Other insects
8.6
Crustaceans
10.3 Spiders
Other arthropods
12.1
12.1
 ARTHROPOD FEATURES (CONT.)

Arthropods are
segmented
invertebrates with
bilateral symmetry,
coelomate body
cavities, and protostome
development

Arthropods have
exoskeletons with
jointed appendages
 SEGMENTATION

 The head has mouthparts for feeding and various types of

eyes

 The thorax is the middle body region to which legs and wings
are attached

 The abdomen is the posterior end of the abdomen and bears

additional legs and contains digestive structures and the
reproductive organs
SEGMENTATION
 EXOSKELETON

 Provides a framework for support

 Protects soft body tissues and slows water loss in animals

that live on land

 Provides a place for muscle attachment

 Made of chitin
 JOINTED APPENDAGES

 Appendages of arthropods are adapted for a variety of

functions, such as feeding, mating, sensing, walking, and
swimming
 MOLTING

The one drawback to

having an external
skeleton is that it
does not grow w/
you

Arthropods must
shed their outer
coverings in order to
grow
 FEEDING AND DIGESTION

Arthropods have a
complete, one-way
digestive system
with a mouth, gut,
and an anus, along
with various glands
that produce
digestive enzymes
 RESPIRATION

 Arthropods obtain oxygen by using one of three structures

 Gills
 Aquatic arthropods
 Tracheal tubes
 Terrestrial arthropods
 Book lungs
 Spiders
RESPIRATION (CONT.)
 CIRCULATION

 Most arthropods do not rely on their circulatory systems to

deliver oxygen
 They do rely on the system to transport nutrients and remove wastes

 Arthropod blood is pumped by a heart into vessels that carry

the blood to body tissues
 EXCRETION

Cellular wastes are

removed from the
blood through
Malpighian tubules
 Malpighian tubules are
attached to and empty
into the gut, which
contains the
undigested food wastes
to be eliminated from
the body
 CHEMICALS

 Pheromones are chemicals secreted by many animal species

that influence the behavior of other animals of the same
species
 MOVEMENT

The muscles are

attached to the inner
surface of the
exoskeleton on both
sides of the joint

The strength of muscle

contraction depends
on the rate at which
nerve impulses
stimulate muscles
 REPRODUCTION

 Most arthropods reproduce sexually and have a variety of

adaptations for reproduction
 Most arthropods have separate sexes, but a few are hermaphrodites
and undergo cross fertilization

 Most crustaceans brood their egg, but do not care for their
hatched offspring

 Some spiders and insects also incubate their eggs, but do

care for their young
 ARTHROPOD GROUPS

 Arthropods are classified into groups based on shared

similarities
 These include structure of their body segments, appendages, and
mouthparts

 There are three major groups

 Crustaceans
 Spiders and their relatives
 Insects and their relatives
 CRUSTACEANS

 Members of the class Crustacea

 Includes about 35,000 named species

 Most are aquatic and have two pairs of antennae, two

compound eyes that can be on the tips of slender movable
stalks, and mandibles for chewing

 Crustaceans possess branched appendages and have a free-

swimming larval stage called a nauplius
 CRUSTACEANS (CONT.)

 Most crustaceans, such as crayfishes, lobsters, and crabs,

have five pairs of legs
 The first pair of legs—the chelipeds—has large claws adapted to catch
and crush food
 Behind the next four pairs of walking legs are the swimmerets,
appendages that are used for reproduction and as flippers during
swimming
CRUSTACEANS (CONT.)
CRUSTACEAN DIVERSIT Y
 SPIDERS AND THEIR RELATIVES

 Belong to the class Arachnida

 Includes about 57,000 named species, including spiders, ticks,
mites, and scorpions

 Most arachnids have two body sections—a cephalothorax and

an abdomen—and six pairs of jointed appendages
 An arachnid’s most anterior pair of appendages is modified into
mouthparts called chelicerae
 Function as fangs or pincers and are often connected to a poison gland
 The second pair of appendages is called the pedipalps
 Used for sensing and holding prey
ARACHNID BODY PLAN
 SPIDERS

Almost all spiders are

carnivores
 1 species is herbivorous

Spiders will either hunt

their prey or spin silken
webs that help trap their
prey

Spiders are capable of

constructing only specific
kinds of webs
 FEEDING IN SPIDERS

 After catching an insect or other arthropod in their webs,

many spiders wrap their prey in a cocoon
 Digestion begins externally, when a spider secretes digestive
enzymes onto its prey
 After liquefaction occurs, the spider ingests the softened food
 SPIDER REPRODUCTION

 A male spider stores sperm in a cavity on his pedipalps

 The male inserts the sperm into the female

 The female lays her eggs in a cocoon spun of spider silk.

 There can be as many as 100 eggs in one cocoon
SPIDER DIVERSIT Y
 TICKS AND MITES

Mites are less than 1

mm long
 Cephalothorax and
abdomen are fused into
one oval-shaped body
section

Ticks are parasites

that feed on blood
 Can cause diseases like
Lyme disease and Rocky
Mountain spotted fever
 SCORPIONS

Carnivores that feed

on insects, spiders,
and small
vertebrates

Generally nocturnal

Characterized by a
stinger at the end of
the abdomen
 HORSESHOE CRABS

 Horseshoe crabs have remained unchanged since the Triassic

Period more than 200 million years ago

 The chelicerae, pedipalps, and the next three pairs of legs are
used for walking and getting food from the bottom of the sea

 They feed on annelids, mollusks, and other invertebrates

HORSESHOE CRAB
 DIVERSIT Y OF INSECTS

 Arthropods make up about three-fourths of all named animal

species
 About 80 percent of arthropods are insects

 They are the most abundant and widespread of all terrestrial

animals
 Due to their ability to fly, to adapt, their exoskeleton, and their
reproductive capacities
 EXTERNAL FEATURES

Three body areas—

the head, thorax,
and abdomen
 Head structures
include antennae,
compound eyes, simple
eyes, and mouthparts
 Insects have three
pairs of legs and
generally two pairs of
wings on the thorax
 INSECT ADAPTATIONS

 Structural adaptations have led to increased diversity in

insects
 Legs
 Mouthparts
 Wings
 Sense organs

 These adaptations enable insects to utilize all kinds of food

and live in different types of environments
 CENTIPEDES

Centipedes have long,

segmented bodies, and
each segment has one
pair of jointed legs

The first pair of

appendages is modified
to form poison claws

Most species of
centipedes are not
harmful to humans
 MILLIPEDES

Millipedes have two pairs

of appendages on their
abdominal segments and
one pair on their thorax

Walk with a slow,

graceful motion

They do not have poison

claws and feed primarily
on damp and decaying
vegetation