Canadian Medical Guide > Organisms > Animals > Invertebrates > Arthropods Terms and Definitions

Arthropods

Medical Definition:	Members of the phylum Arthropoda of the animal kingdom, composed of organisms having a hard, jointed exoskeleton and paired jointed legs, and including among other classes, the ARACHNIDA and INSECTS, many species of which are important medically as parasites or as vectors of organisms capable of causing disease in man. (Dorland, 27th ed)
Guide Notes:	/microbiol /parasitol /virol permitted

Arthropods Categories.

	Arachnida - A class of Arthropoda that includes SPIDERS; TICKS; MITES; and SCORPIONS.
	Crustacea - A large subphylum of mostly marine ARTHROPODS containing over 42,000 species. They include familar arthropods such as lobsters (NEPHROPIDAE), crabs (BRACHYURA), shrimp (PENAEIDAE), and barnacles (THORACICA).
	Horseshoe Crabs - An arthropod subclass (Xiphosura) comprising the North American (Limulus) and Asiatic (Tachypleus) genera of horseshoe crabs.
	Insects - Insects are a class, Insecta, of Arthropoda whose members are characterized by division into three parts: head, thorax, and abdomen. They are the dominant group of animals on earth, several hundred thousand different kinds having been described. They have lived on earth for about 350 million years, as compared with less than 2 million for man. While insects are often commercially valuable and useful as scavengers, many species are harmful, causing enormous losses in agriculture and storage. Three orders, HEMIPTERA, DIPTERA, and Siphonaptera, are of medical interest in that they cause disease in man and animal. (From Dorland, 27th ed; Borror et al., An Introduction to the Study of Insects, 4th ed, p1)

Arthropods Medical Definitions and Terms

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