What is an Arthropod - Characteristics and examples of arthropods

Characteristics of arthropods

Beetles, butterflies, crabs and spiders are invertebrate animals which have legs with more than one section. 

The parts that join these sections together are called joints.
The animals' bodies are also made up of separate sections or segments, with a stiff outer covering called an exoskeleton.

Beetles, butterflies, crabs, and spiders belong to a large group of invertebrate animals called arthropods. 

Examples of arthropods

More than three-quarters of all the different species of animals living on our planet are arthropods.
Biologists are still finding hundreds of new species of arthropods every year.

Centipedes and millipedes are arthropods.

Their bodies are divided into many segments. Each segment has one or two pairs of legs. Some millipedes have 115 pairs of legs!

Spiders and scorpions are a kind of arthropod called an arachnid. 

All arachnids have eight legs.
Insects, such as cockroaches, beetles, bees, and butterflies, are also arthropods. 
All insects have six legs.
Another group of arthropods, called crustaceans, includes crabs, lobsters, wood lice, water fleas, and shrimps. 
Crustaceans have several pairs of legs.