Download Myriapoda

Subphyla:
MYRIAPODA
CHARACTERISTICS
“myriapod” means many footed
 Two segments- head and trunk

 Paired
appendages on every trunk
Respiration by tracheal tubes
 Excretion by Malpighian tubules

Subphyla:
MYRIAPODA EVOLUTION
CLASSES
Chilopoda
 Diplopoda
 Pauropoda
 Symphyla

CLASS CHILOPODA
Centipedes
 Flattened bodies
 Prefer moist places such as under logs, bark
and stones
 Carnivores – eat earthworms, cockroaches and
other insects
 Kill prey by use of their venom claws and chew
with their mandibles

CHILOPODA
Scolopendra gigantea – largest centipede,
about 30 cm in length
 Scutigera – household centipedes, 15 pairs of
appendages, often found around bathrooms or
damp cellars

CHILOPODA
Centipede bodies contain from a few to 177
segments
 Each segment (except the one behind the head
and the last two) contains paired appendages
 The last pair of legs are longer that others and
serves as a sensory function
 Each contain a pair of antennae, a pair of
mandibles(lower jaw) and one or two pairs of
maxillae (upper jaw).

CLASS DIPLOPODA
Millipedes
 Means “thousand feet”
 Not as active as centipedes, move slow, and
don’t wiggle like centipedes do
 May roll into a coil when disturbed
 Prefer dark moist places under logs or stones
 Herbivorous- feeding on decayed plant matter
and sometimes living plants

DIPLOPODA
Secrete toxic or
repellant fluids to
protect from
predation
 More than 10,000
species of
millipedes
 Exoskeleton –
calcium carbonate

DIPLOPODA
25-100 segments
 Thorax - 4 segments each containing one pair of
legs
 Abdomen – contains 2 pairs of legs (leading to the
impression of a thousand feet)


Larval forms only have 1 pair of appendages per
segment
Contain a pair of antennae, mandibles and
maxillae
 In most millipedes, the 7th segment is specialized
as copulatory organs


Females lay eggs
CLASS PAUROPODA
500 species
 Small- 2mm or less
 Live in soil, leaf litter, or decaying vegetation
 Small head with antennae, and no true eyes

 However,
have a pair of sense organs that resemble
eyes

12 segments which bear 9 pairs of legs
CLASS SYMPHYLA
Small – 2-10mm
 Have centipede-like bodies
 Live in organic soil, leaf mold
and debris
 Often pests on vegetables and
flowers
 Soft bodied
 14 segments, 12 of which bear
legs
 Contain one pair of spinnerets
(can produce silky thread)
 160 species known
