Animal Kingdom - Notes | Class 11 | Part 8: Arthropoda

Phylum Arthropoda (Joint-Legged Animals): General Characters

Arthropoda is the largest phylum. Over two-thirds of all named species are arthropods.

  • Grades of Organization: Organ system.
  • Symmetry: Bilateral symmetry.
  • Germ Layers: Triploblastic.
  • Coelom: Coelomate.
  • Habit and Habitat: Cosmopolitan.
  • Digestive System: Complete.
  • Respiratory System: Gills/book gills/trachea/book lungs.
  • Circulatory System: Open type.
  • Reproduction:
    • Mostly dioecious.
    • Usually internal fertilization.
    • Mostly oviparous.
    • Development is direct or indirect.

  • Unique Features:
    • Jointed appendages.
    • Body has 3 regions: head, thorax & abdomen.
    • Body is covered by chitinous cuticle (exoskeleton).
    • Excretion by Malpighian tubules.
    • Sensory organs are antennae, compound & simple eyes, statocysts (balance organs).
  • Examples:
    • Spider, Scorpion, Crab, Prawn, Insects etc.
    • Economically important insects: Apis, Bombyx, Laccifer.
    • Vectors: Mosquitoes (Anopheles, Culex & Aedes), Housefly etc.
    • Gregarious pest: Locusta.
    • Living fossil: Limulus (King crab).
Arthropoda Example

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