Phylum Arthropoda - Arthropods

Classification · Explanation of Names · Numbers · Size · Identification · Range · Habitat · See Also · Print References · Internet References · Works Cited

Tiny beetle - Psyllobora vigintimaculata

Classification

Kingdom Animalia (Animals)

Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)

Explanation of Names

from the Greek arthron (αρθρον)- "joint" + podos (ποδος)- "of foot, leg"; refers to the jointed legs of all members in the phylum

Numbers

Worldwide:(1)(2)

15 classes

>120 orders

~2140 families [doesn't sound right, as Crustacea alone have >1000, Myriapoda close to 200, Arachnida and Hexapoda close to a thousand each, too... =v=]

>1.3 million described species (plus many more undescribed)

Size

ranges from the smallest mite (about 0.10 mm) and the smallest insect (a Hymenopteran, Dicopomorpha echmepterygis at 0.139 mm), up to the Japanese Spider Crab (legspan to 3.8 m), but most arthropods are in the range 2-25 mm

Identification

Three or more pairs of jointed legs (some mites have less, many insect larvae have none)

Body segmented, bilaterally symmetrical

Possessing an exoskeleton, usually tough, composed in part of chitin(2)

See Glossary for terminology.

Keys to classes and such in https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uva.x030454446&view=1up&seq=3

Range

Cosmopolitan

Habitat

Almost every habitat

Print References

Giribet, G., and Edgecombe, G. D. 2019. The Phylogeny and Evolutionary History of Arthropods. Current Biology 29(12): R592-R602. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2019.04.057

Internet References

Introduction to the Arthropoda (Waggoner & Collins)

Tree of Life (Maddison 1995)

higher taxa of Arthropoda (Kluge 2000)

Insect Morphology (illustrated glossary)

Works Cited

1.	Phylum Athropoda. In: Zhang Z-Q (ed) Animal biodiversity: An outline of higher-level classif. and survey of taxonomic richness Zhang Z.-Q. 2013. Zootaxa 3703: 17–26.

2.	Animal: The Definitive Visual Guide to the World's Wildlife Don E. Wilson, David Burnie. 2001. Dorling Kindersley Publishing.

Contributed by Troy Bartlett on 31 January, 2004 - 4:45pm
Additional contributions by cotinis, John VanDyk, Beatriz Moisset, Robin McLeod, Christopher C Wirth, Chuck Entz, ceiseman, v belov, Harsi S. Parker, Blocky, Arturo Santos
Last updated 8 May, 2023 - 4:54pm

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