The word arthropod comes from the Greek words for “jointed foot.”
Arthropods are invertebrates with an exoskeleton, a segmented body and jointed appendages. and a body with an exoskeleton.
Main characteristics of arthropods
- segmented body
- jointed appendages
- exoskeleton (usually chitinous)
- dorsal anterior brain connected to a ventral chain of ganglia
The 5 major classes of arthropods
- Insects
- Three body segments: head, thorax and abdomen
- Six legs (three pairs)
- One pair of antennae
- Ants, termites, dragonflies, bees
- Arachnids
- Two body segments: cephalothorax and abdomen
- Eight legs (four pairs)
- Spiders and scorpions
- Myriapods
- Centipedes
- Segmented, flattened body (two body parts: head and segmented trunk)
- One pair of legs per body segment
- One pair of antennae
- Millipedes
- Segmented, rounded body (two body parts: head and segmented trunk)
- Two pairs of legs per body segment
- One pair of antennae
- Centipedes
- Crustaceans
- Three body segments: head, thorax and abdomen. Each body segment can have a pair of appendages.
- Five pairs of jointed legs
- Two pairs of antennae
- Breathe through gills





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