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leg

Classification

Kingdom Animalia (Animals)

Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)

No Taxon (Glossary)

No Taxon (L)

No Taxon leg

Explanation of Names

English word is from Middle English legge, meaning leg (1), that apparently from Old Norse (Jardine calls this Icelandic) leggr, a leg, a hollow bone.

Identification

leg - one of the six chief organs of locomotion of an insect, arising from the segments of the thorax, and which are made up of four main portions, the coxa, femur, tibia, and tarsus. (The second segment, the trochanter, is very short.) Sometimes the tarsus has an elongated first section, the metatarsus.

Some insect larvae, especially caterpillars, have fleshy prolegs, often in addition to six true legs. Photos/diagrams showing prolegs and true legs in a caterpillar:

Remarks

According to Jardine, Thomas Say called the entire insect leg the tibia, but this usage is not current today.

See Also

leg

coxa

trochanter

femur

tibia

tarsus / metatarsus

tibiotarsus

proleg

Print References

Gordh, A Dictionary of Entomology, p. 517 (1)

Internet References

Jardine's Dictionary of Entomology

Wikipedia: Arthropod leg

Works Cited

1.	A Dictionary of Entomology George Gordh, David H. Headrick. 2003. CABI Publishing.

Contributed by Cotinis on 15 May, 2007 - 1:41pm
Additional contributions by ceiseman
Last updated 6 March, 2015 - 8:20pm

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