Lab 4 (Arthropods) Flashcards
What are Arthropoda?
- They have segmented and metameric bodies
- Fusion of metameres into distinct functional body units called tagmata
- Specialization of appendages
- They also have jointed appendages (this greatly increases the range of mobility and possible functions of the appendages
- Very diverse
What are the shared characteristics of the animals from the Phylum Arthropoda?
- Bilateral symmetry
- True coelom
- Cephalization
- All organ systems are present
- Striated muscles
- A hard, chitinous exoskeleton that must be molted (shed)
- Greater specialization of appendages, which are jointed
- Open circulatory system involving hemolymph (blood)
What are the Subphylum’s to the Phylum Arthropoda?
Chelicerata
Crustacea
Myriapoda
Hexapoda
Explain the basics to the Subphylum Chelicerata
- Spiders, scorpions, ticks, horseshoe crabs
- They do not have a jaw (mandible) for chewing food
- Instead, the first pair of appendages is modified into structures that seize and tear their food
- These appendages are called chelicerae
- Most chelicerates have two tagmata
1) Cephalothorax
2) Abdomen - They do not have antennae
What are the two examples we looked at for the Subphylum Chelicerata?
Horseshoe crab
Garden spider
Explain the basics of the horseshoe crab?
- Aren’t actual crabs
- Ancient chelicerates
- Live on the soft muddy bottoms of shallow water, where they feed on molluscs, worms and dead fish
- They do come ashore to lay and fertilize eggs
What is the external (general) of the horseshoe crab?
- On the dorsal surface the body has two distinct tagmata
1) the anterior cephalothorax
2) the posterior abdomen - They have median simple eyes and lateral compound eyes
- The long telson (“tail spine”) is used for anchoring in sand, ploughing through the sand and righting the animal when it flips over
What is the structure/protection of the horseshoe crab?
- It’s body is covered with a tough, leathery exoskeleton made of chitin
- As the animal grows, it must molt (shed) its exoskeleton periodically
- The cephalothorax is protected by a horseshoe shaped section of exoskeleton called the carapace
What are the appendages of cephalothorax of the horseshoe crab?
- There are 6 pairs of appendages on the cephalothorax
- The first, small pair is the chelicerae; these are used to detect and manipulate food
- Next come the pedipalps; these are modified to perform different functions, depending on the animals sex and the species
- On males, the pedipalps are enlarged into claspers, used to hold onto the female as she carries him out of the water and onto the shore to reproduce
- The remaining pairs of appendages are walking legs
- The mouth is the opening found where the appendages attach to the body
What are the appendages of abdomen of the horseshoe crab?
- The abdomen bears a series of flat, plate like appendages
- The first pair conceals the genital pores
- The others are modified into gills
- Under the flaps are many layers, called lamellae, of the gills
- The gills are the surfaces on which gas exchange occurs
- The anus is located where the telson meets the abdomen
Explain the basics of the garden spider
- Mostly prey on other Arthropods, but are known to consume birds, fish, amphibians and small mammals
- They build orb webs in sunny places with tall grass
- Webs are handy structures for passively trapping passing prey
What is the external (general) of the garden spider?
- They have 2 tagmata, and a thin and flexible exoskeleton
- Sensory hairs (setae) project from all parts of the body, including appendages
- On the dorsal surface of the cephalothorax are a number of simple eyes at the anterior end
- Different types of spiders have different numbers and arrangements of eyes
What are the appendages of cephalothorax of the garden spider?
- The first set of appendages are the chelicerae
- They are found at the front of the face, often obscured by the second pair of appendages (pedipalps)
- The terminal segment of each chelicera is a fang
- Poison is ejected through the fangs via a poison gland, to kill and digest the prey prior to eating
- The next set of appendages is the pedipalps
- These are used to grip and manipulate prey (they are covered in long, sensitive setae)
- Spiders are generally sexually dimorphic
- Males are much smaller than females and their pedipalps are modified to transfer sperm into the female epigyne
- The remaining appendages are walking legs
What are the abdominal structures of the garden spider?
- At the anterior end is two thin slits (these openings mark the location of the book lungs)
- These look and function very much like the book gills of the horseshoe crab
- Between the openings to the book lungs is the epigyne, which conceals the female genital pore
- There are several pairs of spinnerets on a raised area at the posterior end of the abdomen
- These structures produce silk, used for making webs, wrapping prey and encasing eggs
- Anterior to the spinnerets is another small opening
- This is the spiracle; it is an opening to the internal respiratory system
- Some spiders have both book lungs and a tracheal system, while others have only one of the two systems
Explain the basics to the Subphylum Myriapoda
- Legs are the give-away
- They have segmented bodies and jointed appendages
- They have two tagmata
1) Head
2) Trunk - They have 1 pair of antennae
What are the 2 examples we looked at for the Subphylum Myriapoda?
Centipede
Millipede
What are centipedes?
- They are swift, active, predatory animals
- They are found under logs and stones or other moist habitats
- Some species have simple ocelli, while others have large, faceted eyes composed of many small ommatidia (simple eyes)
- The large fangs at the end of the maxillipeds are connected to poison glands and are used to subdue prey
- The toothed mandibles, which chew food, are positioned between the maxillipeds
- The mouthparts are directed anteriorly (towards the front of the face), this is because they are used to capture and subdue prey
- The single pair of antennae is located on the head
- Each trunk segment bears one pair of long legs; the leg length is an indication of speedy locomotion
What is a millipede?
- They share the same types of habitats as their centipede cousins (damp, dark places) but they occupy a different dietary niche, feeding on decaying plant material
- Their most unique characteristic is that each trunk segment is a “double segment” and bears two pairs of legs
- The legs of this animal are shorter than those of the centipede; speed is not as essential for animals consuming plant material
- They have noticeable antennae, ommatidia and mandibles
- The mouthparts in this animal are pointed ventrally (downwards); this reflects the scavenging niche of this animal (food is simply lying on the ground)
- Their hard, rounded bodies can curl into a protective coil when harassed; many also excrete noxious chemical to deter predators
Explain the basics to the Subphylum Crustacea
- Crayfish, lobsters, crabs, barnacles and microscopic animals (fairy shrimp)
- Most are aquatic animals that use gills to breathe, though some are terrestrial
- They have 2 pairs of antennae
- They have 2 tagmata
1) Cephalothorax
2) Abdomen
Explain the basics to the crayfish
- Also known as crawdads, crawfish and mudbugs
- They live in freshwater streams and ponds
- Omnivores
- They feed on vegetation and small animals like worms, snails and small vertebrates
- Lobsters have a nearly identical body plan
What is the external anatomy of the crayfish?
- They have a hard exoskeleton that must be molted periodically as the animal grows
- Cephalothorax
- Abdomen
Explain the external cephalothorax of the crayfish?
- The dorsal surface of the cephalothorax is covered with a hard carapace
- The broad lateral extensions of the carapace cover the gills
- The pointed anterior part of the head is called the rostrum; emerging from beneath the rostrum are the stalked eyes and two pairs of antennae
- There are four pairs of walking legs and one pair of chelipeds originating from the ventral side of the cephalothorax
Explain the external abdomen of the crayfish
- The broad tail fan at the distal end of the abdomen is made up of telson and uropods; strong, rapid flips of tail propel the animal backwards
- The anus is located above the telson
- The abdomen bears 5 pairs of swimmerets, which look different in males and females
- In a male, the pair closest to the cephalothorax will be hardened and paddle shaped while the rest are soft and feathery; in the female all pairs are soft
- The male’s highly modified copulatory swimmerets (pleopods) are used to transfer sperm from their genital opening to the female
- The female has an oval seminal receptacle between the last pair of walking legs; this is where sperm is transferred from the male
- She also has a pair of openings to her oviducts at the base of the third pair of walking legs
- Fertilization is external, and the female protects her eggs and young in a brood pouch formed by her swimmerets
- Females also use their tail fan to protect eggs and young by curling it up over her abdomen
What are the appendages of the crayfish?
- Good example to study serial homology and specialization in appendages
- Chelipeds
- Maxillae
- Antennae
- Copulatory swimmerets (males)