Write the characteristics of phylum Arthropoda and give two examples.

Answer: Arthropoda is the largest phylum of the animal kingdom; the name means ‘animals with jointed legs’.

1. They have jointed appendages (legs) for movement.
2. The body is covered by a hard exoskeleton of chitin.
3. The body is triploblastic, coelomate, bilaterally symmetrical and segmented, usually divided into head, thorax and abdomen.
4. The circulatory system is open; respiration is by gills, trachea or book lungs.
5. Sexes are usually separate.

Examples: cockroach, crab, spider, scorpion, butterfly (any two).