Arthropods' General Characteristics:

Arthropods have jointed appendages with a hard exoskeleton called a cuticle made out of Chitin protein. They have an organ-system level of organization with triploblastic tissue layers of the epidermis, mesodermis, and endodermis. They have an alimentary canal with a mouth and an anus, and they have an eucoelomatic body cavity lined with the mesoderm. There are 5 recognized subphyla in the Phylum Arthropoda: Trilobita, Chelicerata, Crustacea, Myriapoda, and Hexapoda.

Examples of some recognizable organisms that fall into the Phylum Arthropoda:

• Spiders
• Shrimp/Lobsters/Crabs
• Centipedes/Millipedes
• Beetles/Butterfly/Cockroaches/Ants/Bees/Grasshopper