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Amongst the hexapods, the insects ( [link] ) are the largest class in terms of species diversity as well as biomass in terrestrial habitats. Typically, the head bears one pair of sensory antennae, mandibles as mouthparts, a pair of compound eyes, and some ocelli (simple eyes) along with numerous sensory hairs. The thorax bears three pairs of legs (one pair per segment) and two pairs of wings, with one pair each on the second and third thoracic segments. The abdomen usually has eleven segments and bears reproductive apertures. Hexapoda includes insects that are winged (like fruit flies) and wingless (like fleas).

Art connection

The illustration shows the anatomy of a bee. The digestive system consists of a mouth, pharynx, stomach, intestine, and anus. The respiratory system consists of spiracles, or openings, along the side of the bee’s body that connect to tubes that run up and join a larger dorsal tube that connects all the spiracles together. The circulatory system consists of a dorsal blood vessel that has multiple hearts along its length. The nervous system consists of cerebral ganglia in the head that connect to a ventral nerve cord.
In this basic anatomy of a hexapod insect, note that insects have a developed digestive system (yellow), a respiratory system (blue), a circulatory system (red), and a nervous system (red).

Which of the following statements about insects is false?

  1. Insects have both dorsal and ventral blood vessels.
  2. Insects have spiracles, openings that allow air to enter.
  3. The trachea is part of the digestive system.
  4. Insects have a developed digestive system with a mouth, crop, and intestine.

Subphylum myriapoda

Subphylum Myriapoda includes arthropods with numerous legs. Although the name is hyperbolic in suggesting that myriad legs are present in these invertebrates, the number of legs may vary from 10 to 750. This subphylum includes 13,000 species; the most commonly found examples are millipedes and centipedes. All myriapods are terrestrial animals and prefer a humid environment.

Myriapods are typically found in moist soils, decaying biological material, and leaf litter. Subphylum Myriapoda is divided into four classes: Chilopoda, Symphyla, Diplopoda, and Pauropoda. Centipedes like Scutigera coleoptrata ( [link] ) are classified as chilopods. These animals bear one pair of legs per segment, mandibles as mouthparts, and are somewhat dorsoventrally flattened. The legs in the first segment are modified to form forcipules (poison claws) that deliver poison to prey like spiders and cockroaches, as these animals are all predatory. Millipedes bear two pairs of legs per diplosegment, a feature that results from embryonic fusion of adjacent pairs of body segments, are usually rounder in cross-section, and are herbivores or detritivores. Millipedes have visibly more numbers of legs as compared to centipedes, although they do not bear a thousand legs ( [link] ).

The photo shows a centipede with many, very long legs. The photo shows a green and brown-striped millipede coiled around itself. It has many little legs.
(a) The Scutigera coleoptrata centipede has up to 15 pairs of legs. (b) This North American millipede ( Narceus americanus) bears many legs, although not a thousand, as its name might suggest. (credit a: modification of work by Bruce Marlin; credit b: modification of work by Cory Zanker)

Subphylum crustacea

Crustaceans are the most dominant aquatic arthropods, since the total number of marine crustacean species stands at 67,000, but there are also freshwater and terrestrial crustacean species. Krill, shrimp, lobsters, crabs, and crayfish are examples of crustaceans ( [link] ). Terrestrial species like the wood lice ( Armadillidium spp.) (also called pill bugs, rolly pollies, potato bugs, or isopods) are also crustaceans, although the number of non-aquatic species in this subphylum is relatively low.

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Source:  OpenStax, Biology. OpenStax CNX. Feb 29, 2016 Download for free at http://cnx.org/content/col11448/1.10
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