General Characteristics
- They posses a chitinous exoskeleton that must be shed during growth. (molting)
- The paired appendages (legs, antennae) are jointed.
- The segmented bodies are arranged into regions, called tagmata (head, thorax, abdomen).
- They have bilateral symmetry.
- The nervous system is ventral (belly) and the circulatory system is open and dorsal (back).