Animal Phylum Arthropoda

The phylum Arthropoda has been called the most ‘important’ animal group. To what extent can this be said to be true?
Members of the Phylum Arthropoda were in existence over 600 billion years ago during the Cambrian Era. The name “Arthropoda” was derived from the Greek word meaning “jointed-feet” and is used to classify over ¾ of named species and 80% of all animal species. (Science Clarified, 2007). The 9 main Animal Phyla consist of; Chordata, Echinodermata, Mollusca, Arthropoda, Annelida, Nematoda, Platyhelminthes, Coelenterata and Porifera, many of which are reliant on Arthropoda to stabilise the environment in order for them to survive (Marguis and Schwartz, 1988). The Arthropods are by far the most successful animal phylum, both in their

Many Arthropods are crucial predators of plant-eating pests and also provide a crucial source of nutrients for animals and carnivorous plants establishing an important role for Arthropods within food chains (Thomas et al., 1992). Approximately 2/3 of all flowering plants are pollinated by insects and many insects and flowers are specifically adapted to each other i.e. the Soapwort is constructed so that only Hummingbird hawk moths can reach the nectar, this also fertilises the plant giving it the capacity to reproduce, the relationship is therefore ‘mutualistic’. (Hamlyn, 1976). Many species of beetles greatly speed up the decay in fallen trees and recycle carrion, without them, forests would congest with piled up timber preventing future growth. (Hamlyn, 1976). As well as helping to clear the forest floor, many Arthropods such as Beetles and Mites play an important role in the formation of Humus from decomposed leaf litter and wood, therefore stabilising the environment in order for new plant-life to grow, this demonstrates the importance of Arthropods in the continuance of life cycles but also in stabilising the food chain (Bird, 2002). Arthropods provide an environment in which

The Anopheles Mosquito for example, spreads diseases such as Malaria to both livestock (which can be economically damaging in agriculture) and to humans (which can cause loss of life), they do this by acting as a vector of the disease and passing the disease causing agent on to other organisms when they feed on their blood. Plastic fly larva’s also do serious injury to mammals i.e screw worms infect livestock’s by laying eggs in open wounds, nostrils and ears which can cause infection and even death (Belliure: 2005). Another example of how Arthropods can spread disease is via Ticks which can be parasites and carry disease causing agents which can cause diseases such as Lyme disease. Plant diseases are also spread by insects that are feeding especially aphids and leafhoppers and the greenfly ruins plants by feeding on the sap and transmitting infectious viruses (Ramel: 2014). An example of where Arthropods have actually caused an epidemic is in the 14th century, when the plague killed ¼ of the European population and then again in the 17th century it killed 1 in 6. The spreading of diseases via Arthropods can be catastrophic and cause massive economic damage which is another example of a disadvantage of the arthropod phylum which could contradict its