Arthropods are all around us! There is probably some in our room right now! They are everywhere and are the largest animal phylum — about 85% of all known animals in the world are part of this class. There are over 900 000 different species of arthropods (To compare, there are only 60 000
Different types of Arthropods
Crustaceans! Crabs, lobsters, shrimp, and crayfish! Almost all crustaceans live in the water.
Insects! Animals like beetles, dragonflies, butterflies, stick bugs, and everyones favorite, the mosquito! Insects were the first animals on Earth to be able to fly!
Arachnids! These are spiders and scorpions! They almost all live on land and all have eight legs.
Centipedes! Long animals with many legs! Many are venomous and their bites hurt a lot!
Characteristics of Arthropods
- Hard exoskeleton (outside skeleton)
- Many legs (Archanids have 8, insects have 6, centipedes even more!)
- Jointed Legs – they can bend their legs, just like us!
Additional Information and Cool Facts
- Arthropods were the first animals to live on land – before them all animals lived in the ocean!
- They have exoskeletons, which means they have a skeleton on their outside. When they want to grow bigger, they must molt (or lose) their skeleton and grow a new one!
- Horseshoe crabs have blue blood!
- The Coconut Crab is the heaviest land invertebrate (4.1 kg) and the Japanese Spider Crab has a leg size of 5.5 m!
- Humans eat over 9 071 847 400 kg of crustaceans(shrimp, crab, lobster) each year!
- Mantis Shrimp can break glass with their punch! It has the same power as a small gun shot!
Comments by shaun pletsch