Classification of the Phylum Arthropoda

Phylum called Arthropoda (arthropods) 
is the largest and most successful 
of the animal phyla. All arthropods 
have segmented bodies divided into 
a head, jointed legs and abdomen. 

The major Classes of living arthropods 
are as follows with one example each: 

Class Arachnida -  spiders  

Class Crustacea -  crabs                                                                         

Class Merostoma- horseshoe crabs

Class Diplopoda -  millipedes 

Class Chilopoda -  centipede 

Class Insecta or Hexopoda - insects

             
               Class trilobites are an extinct group of arthropods that lived in the seas 
of the world for about 380 Mya (million years ago), from the Precambrian 610 Mya 
to around the end of the Permian 230 Mya. 

                Class Insecta – true insects are the most important members of the 
phylum Arthropoda. Typical adult insects have one pair of antennae, three 
pairs of legs, and three body regions: head, thorax, and abdomen. The class 
Insecta is divided into some 29 to 40 major orders. Insects make up more than 
half of all living things in the world. There are more than a million known species 
of insects  and there are many more waiting to be discovered.

http://bugpeople.org/                              
www.fossilmuseum.net/.../PhylumArthropoda.htm                              
http://www.earthlife.net/insects/orders.html                              

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