PHYLUM ARTHROPODA

joint footed animals

Reticulitermes
Termite
Fortress
0.2 mm
Coconut Crab
hellgrammite
Dust
Mite
Spider Crab holding man
Zoologists Are Interested in Embryology

WHY?

Arthropods are EUCOELOMATE PROTOSTOMES

Deuterostomes Protostomes

e.g. e.g.
Echinoderms Molluscs
Vertebrates Annelids
Arthropods
Deuterostomes Protostomes
e.g. e.g.
Echinoderms Molluscs
Vertebrates Annelids
Arthropods
 Arthropods exhibit metamerism
3 3P3
Phyla
 insects

Origin (Chapter 9)
if my theory be true, it is indisputable
that before the lowest Silurian stratum
the world swarmed with living creatures.

Cambrian Explosion
ARTHROPOD SUCCESS . WHY??

*
*
*
Insects
750,000 named species
30 million total ??
1 Reason for Success: the
Exoskeleton = Cuticle
- protective
- allows flexibility & mobility
- versatile
 Quads

Mobility Grasshopper
Hind leg

Hamstrings

human elbow

joint
Joint-Muscle
Similarity?
 Arthropod Cuticle
Layered
Protein

Endocuticle

Layered
Glycoprotein
 The glyco in glycoprotein: CHITIN

Chitin is a polysaccharide similar to cellulose: Light weight

Mechanically tough
Chemically inert

Unmodified Chitin: clear, flexible, resilient

Contrasting Cuticles
Contrasting Cuticles
Contrasting Cuticles
Cuticle Modifications for Toughening
e.g., Grasshopper thorax

Exocuticle becomes tanned or sclerotized (increased

cross-linking within & between glycoprotein layers)

e.g., Crab shell, lobster claw

Procuticle becomes impregnated with Ca++ salts

Cuticle Modifications for Waterproofing
Insect Problem: Dessication
- small size
- air is dessicating
- cuticles not water-tight

CUTICLE

WAX
GLAND
Solution???
 Structure of a WAX

C O
CH2 CH2

CH2 CH2
Fatty Alcohol
Acid (CH2)n (CH2)n

CH2 CH2

CH3 CH3
Pillbugs are land crustaceans!!

NO WAX
 Arthropod cuticles have 1 BIG drawback

They dont expand to allow growth!!!

Vertebrate
Bone Growth

RADICAL arthropod solution: the MOLT

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDK3IT29uoQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2A1i10ZIB-w
Ecdysone
 Secretes
Molting Fluid
(chitinase, proteases)

Molting Fluid attacks

Endocuticle
Old endocuticle
dissolved away
 Phylum Arthropoda
Subphylum Myriapoda many footed
Class Chilopoda centipedes

-2 legs per segment (mostly)

-Predators (venom claws)
-Fast
 Subphylum Myriapoda many footed
Class Diplopoda millipedes

-1000 feet
-Secretive & slow
-4 legs per segment (mostly)
-herbivorous
Subphylum Chelicerata
Class Arachnida
Order Araneae
http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/kids/animals-pets-kids/bugs-
kids/leafcutter-ant-kids/
Wolf Spider with egg sac
Phylum Arthropoda
Subphylum Hexapoda
Class Entognatha (springtails, snow fleas, etc.)

Class Insecta

BUGS
 7,000,000,000 humans on earth

for every person

200,000,000 insects !!

We live in The Age of Insects

Surprise: not found in worlds largest habitat

Breath-taking diversity

Master Niche Fillers

 Friend and Foe

BROWN MARMORATED
The Honeybee STINK BUG
Halyomorpha halys
Basic Body Plan
3 Tagmata (body regions)
Head
Thorax
Abdomen
 Body
Variety

Body Plan
Variety
H
T
A
Earwig
Cerci

Defense
Prey Capture
Mouthpart
Variety

(sponges)
Sensory
Variety
 Darwin saw usefulness

Vision
 Leg
Variety
INSECT MOBILITY

All insect muscles are striated!

Muscles & Endoskeletons

(flexion)

Antagonistic Pairs

(extension)
 Muscles & Exoskeletons

Antagonistic Pairs

Q: Which muscle
produces the leap?
 1st in Flight???
Not Birds Not Bats
 Flight has huge implications
(foraging, reproduction, migration, escape, etc.)

24 - 26 Orders of insects
22 have winged forms

Wingless orders in this group: silverfish, bristletails,

proturans, and springtails
2 Pairs of Wings
BEETLES

Forewings are protective

Hindwings for flight

flies Order Diptera

2 Wings
 Mud Dauber

collecting and

transporting mud
 Spiders packed
larva
into a cell

Mud Dauber
Nests

Adult Escape
Holes
Optimal Foraging?
 Creationist WING Argument:

Only fully-formed wings could be beneficial

How did Darwin respond??

Weak Flying?
Gliding?
Thermoregulation?
Gas Exchange?
Behavioral Signal?
Communication
Function??
Sustainable Flight Speeds

Small grasshoppers 1.8 km/hr

Malaria mosquitos 3.2
Housefly 6.4
Blowfly 11.0
Honeybee 22.4
Large dragonfly 30.0
Deer bot fly 40.0 !!
Roughly Bolts
Top Speed
Forward Thrust
Downstroke
AND
Upstroke

FLIGHT MUSCLES
Direct & Indirect
 Tergum

Indirect Direct
Flight Muscle Flight Muscle
Sternum

Bird-like
Bat-like
Note locations of fulcrum
and muscle insertion

Downstroke
 Both Muscle
Groups are Indirect
 Fulcrum yes
Muscle insertion no

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iUNRkvwIUQ0
Slow wing beats slow neuromuscular activity
 EXAMPLE: butterflies @ 4 beats/sec

Synchronous Neural Stimulation

1 action potential

1 set of muscle
cell contractions

NMJ
1 wing beat
 Extreme wing speed
Can nervous systems keep up??
Asynchronous Stimulation

e.g., some midges exceed 1000 beats/sec midge

1000 beats/sec = 1 beat per ms !!

This should be IMPOSSIBLE why?

Neuron refractory periods: 5 10 ms

In other words, muscles are contracting faster than nervous

systems operate !!
 MECHANISM
When the upstroke muscles contract,
they stretch the downstroke muscles.

Downstroke muscles respond by contracting

which stretches the upstroke muscles.

This antagonism may continue several cycles

before a neural input is needed to keep it going.

In extreme cases, 40 wingbeats have been

recorded for each neural input.
 FLIGHT TEMPERATURES
Thoracic temperature of a flying sphinx moth (Manduca sexta)

mammals
 Flying and running are energetically
demanding super lungs and heart??

NO (!) (at first look)

Insect Respiration
 Spiracle

Body
wall
branching resembles that
inside mammalian lungs
Flying insects have large aerobic
requirements while having a crude
OPEN circulatory system.

PARADOX?
How do insects get away with
this system?
 Danger of
Dessication
High SA:VOL exacerbated by

flying ??
high metabolic rate?
producing urine?
 H2O

Spiracles are Valved

Water Loss Hemolymph (blood)
In Urine in the
Hemocoel (body cavity)

[NO CAPILLARIES]

Marcello Malpighi (1628-1694)

 NITROGENOUS Waste Products of Animals

Ammonia Urea Uric Acid

Cost of Synthesis none low high

Toxicity high moderate low

Solubility high high very low

Diffusion Coefficient high intermediate low

N per osmotic particle 1 2 4

 Active in
re-claiming water
Hyperosmotic Urine (U/P> 1)
Significance??

What animals can produce it??

- Mammals Potent Kidneys

- Birds

- Arthropods (Malpighian Tubules)

Animal urine can be dilute or concentrated relative to body fluids

U/P osmotic pressure of urine

osmotic pressure of plasma
 INSECT DEVELOPMENT

Holometabolous
Development
(88% of all insects)

Maggot
Grubs

Radical
reconstruction
 HEMIMETABOLOUS DEVELOPMENT
A gradual metamorphosis

e.g., grasshoppers, cicadas, preying mantis, mayflies, dragonflies

 Class Insecta
Order Coleoptera
Lepidoptera
Hymenoptera
Know examples
from each Order Diptera
Hemiptera
Homoptera
Orthoptera
 Fridays Lab

Optimal Foraging by Butterflies

Natural selection pushes species TO BE ADAPTED to
their environment.

Useful traits often appear optimized.

Why not maximized??

Swimming in
cold water

Blubber: What is optimal for a seal?

optimal
 Food to stomach?
Air to lungs?
Blood to brain?

Wouldnt an even
longer neck be
better??
Trade-offs?
How long is
long enough?
 OPTIMALITY MODEL

Benefit

Amount of
Cost or
Benefit MAX
Cost

Opt

Extent of Phenotype
 Flow = Pr4
proboscis 8l
P = pressure inside proboscis
r = proboscis radius
l = proboscis length
= fluid viscosity
Lab Variable
 Amount/mL

Amount/mL

?
Costs?

Concentration
SUGAR CONCENTRATIONS (%): 8.75, 17.5, 35, 50, & 80

()