Exoskeleton Found
By: Susan Yu Mitcham-PAP Bio-6
Objectives - Arthropod Dissection
Hop into Life of a Grasshopper
Grasshoppers or also known as Caelifera are herbivores. They eat grass, leaves, stems, flowers, seeds, and sometimes dead insects. They are preyed by skunks, blister beetles, ground beetles, shrews, moles, salamanders, toads, and snakes. Grasshoppers are found in temperate, tropical, and terrestrial habitats. Many live in deserts or dunes, chaparral, forest, rain forest, scrub forest, and marshes. In their ecosystem, grasshoppers are considered important herbivores. They are the base of many food webs in every ecosystem. Due to the amount of predators the grasshopper has strong hind legs that allow them to leap up to 20 times its length to escape predators. To add better protection the grasshopper usually have mad camouflaging skills. And the most important adaptation that this lab is about the exoskeleton that protects the insides of the grasshopper.
WATCH THE GRASSHOPPER HOP!
Crazy for Crayfish History
Crayfish's scientific name is Astacoidea. These animals are found in temperate and freshwater habitats located in lakes, ponds, rivers and streams. Crayfish mostly feeds on insects, snails, other invertebrates, aquatic plants, and algae. Predators of the crayfish are fish, otter, raccoon, mink, and great blue heron. In their ecosystem, crayfish serves as an important food source for their predators and act to control the populations of their prey species. These crayfish have well-adapted eyes that see all directions for predators, big pincer to fight off any enemies or grab food, two pairs of antennae that help detect movement in water, and an EXOSKELETON to protect the body.
CRAYFISH SPOTTED
Integumentary System
Arthropod's integumentary system is the exoskeleton. Exoskeleton contains rigid and resistant components that fulfill a set of functional roles such as protection, excretion, sensing, support, and feeding. It is made up of chitin and the addition of calcium carbonate makes them harder. When these skins are outgrown, it is shed in a process call molting. The epicuticle is the outermost part of the cuticle. Its function is to reduce water loss and block the invasion of foreign matter. The innermost layer of spicuticle is often called the cuticulum layer, a stratum composed of lipoproteins and chains of fatty acids embedded in a protein-polyphenol complex. An oriented monolayer of wax molecules lies just the cuticulim layer; it serves as the chief barrier to movement of water into or out of the insects's body. In many insects a cement layer covers the wax and protects it from abrasion.
Grasshopper Dissection
LOOK AT THE GRASSHOPPER!
STRUCTURE OF THE GRASSHOPPER!
Abdomen
Posterior section of body containing reproductive and digestive organs
Compound eyesMost prominent anterodorsal feature of the head; For vision
Simple eyes (ocelli)Situated atop the cranium and between the compound eyes; 3 small circles; For detecting light
AntennaeShort and thread-like; detect touch, movement, and odors; olfaction and proprioceptions are functions
Mouth partsAdapted for chewing; consists of the mandibles;upper jaw, maxillae;lower jaw, labrum;upper lip, labium;lower lip, and hypopharynx;tongue equivalent
PalpsHighly mobile appendages for handling food; attached to the maxilla and labium
LegsLocomotory organ attached to thorax and abdomen
ProthoracicFirst segment of the leg adapted for walking
MesothoracicMiddle segment of the leg adapted for walking
MetathoracicLast segment of the leg modified for jumping
FemurLargest, thickest part of the metathoracic segment of the leg; helps with hopping
TibiaLong, spine-encrusted part of the metathoracic segment of the leg
Wings
Outgrowths of the body wall that enable the insect to fly
Pronotum
A saddle-shaped shield on the prothorax; used for protection
Grasshopper Fun Facts
- have ears on their belly
- make music by rubbing hind leg against fore wing
- causes billions of dollars in damage to food crops, annually, worldwide
- provide important source of protein to people in many parts of the world
- exists long before dinosaurs
- can leap up to 200 times their length in one jump
- temperature can be determined based on their chirping
- young grasshoppers can eat two times their weight in a day
CRAYFISH STRUCTURE
Crayfish Organs!
cephalothorax/abdomen
the two divided parts of the crayfish's body
carapace
the part of the exoskeleton that covers the cephalothorax
antennulesorgans of touch, taste, and BALANCE
antennae
organs of touch, taste, and SMELL
mandibles
the jaws
maxillae
hold solid food, tear it, and pass it to the mouth.
maxillipedsthe first three appendages on the cephalothorax, hold food for eating
chelipedsthe large claws that the crayfish uses for defense and to capture pray
walking legs
help for navigation
swimmerets
create water currents and function in reproduction
uropods
the sixth segment of the abdomen
telson
bears the anus
cervical groove
separates the head and the thoracic regions
gills
help for breathing.
Crayfish Dissection
Crayfish Taxonomy
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Anthropoda
Subphylum: Crustacea
Class: Malacostraca
Order: Decapoda
Suborder: Pleocyemata
Infraorder: Astacidea
Superfamily: Astacoidea
Grasshopper Taxonomy
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Anthropoda
Subphylum: Hexapoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Orthroptera
Suborder: Caelifera
FAMILY LINE OF THE ARTHROPODS.
Tiny Crayfish Discovered
A new species of crayfish discovered in southeast Australia's coastal lakes and swamps is one of the world's smallest crayfish species, researchers report.
The tiny, blue-black crustacean resembles its larger cousins that end up in cooking pots, such as lobsters and crawdads. But this species, which locals call a lake yabby, measures only 0.5 to 0.7 inches (12 to 18 millimeters) long. The biggest one found was just 0.8 inches (21 mm) long, and weighed 0.2 ounces (7 grams). Read more: http://www.nbcnews.com/science/environment/adorably-tiny-crayfish-discovered-its-cannibal-n77081
Crayfish Fun Facts
- is a freshwater variant of a lobster
- when they molt, they eat their old exoskeleton
- comes in variety of colors such as blue, white, red, pink, sandy, yellow, and dark brown
- with proper care, crayfish can live two years in captivity
- over 350 species of 500 in the world lives in United States
- live in every continent except Africa and Antarctica
Work Cited
"Crayfish Dissection." YouTube. YouTube, 07 Mar. 2013. Web. 10 Apr. 2014.
"Friends of Rietvlei." Friends of Rietvlei. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Apr. 2014.
"A Minute for Nature by Paul Relaplaces Nature Video Crayfish in a Stream." YouTube. YouTube, 10 Aug. 2012. Web. 10 Apr. 2014.
"Grasshopper Anatomy Part 1." YouTube. YouTube, 05 Feb. 2012. Web. 10 Apr. 2014.
"Crayfish." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 04 Sept. 2014. Web. 10 Apr. 2014.
"Adorably Tiny Crayfish Discovered (and It's a Cannibal)." NBC News. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Apr. 2014.
"Nature ( The Grasshopper )." YouTube. YouTube, 28 Aug. 2010. Web. 10 Apr. 2014.