Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, "Armour Plates" to "Arundel, Earls of"
part ii. of Lankester's _Treatise on Zoology_).
9965 words | Chapter 144
[Illustration: After Lankester, _Q. J. Mic. Sci._ vol. xxxiv., 1893.
FIG. 1.--Diagram to show the gradual formation of the Arthropod
pericardial blood-sinus and "ostiate" heart by the swelling up
(phleboedesis) of the veins entering the dorsal vessel or heart of a
Chaetopod-like ancestor. The figure on the left represents the condition
in a Chaetopod, that on the right the condition in an Arthropod, the
other two are hypothetical intermediate forms.]
_Tabular Statement of the Grades, Classes and Sub-classes of the
Arthropoda._--It will be convenient now to give in the clearest form a
statement of the larger subdivisions of the Arthropoda which it seems
necessary to recognize at the present day. The justification of the
arrangement adopted will form the substance of the rest of the present
article. The orders included in the various classes are not discussed
here, but are treated of under the following titles:--PERIPATUS
(Onychophora), CENTIPEDE and MILLIPEDE (Myriapoda), HEXAPODA (Insecta),
ARACHNIDA and CRUSTACEA.
SUB-PHYLUM ARTHROPODA (of the Phylum Appendiculata).
Grade A. HYPARTHROPODA (hypothetical forms connecting ancestors of
Chaetopoda with those of Arthropoda).
Grade B. PROTARTHROPODA.
Class ONYCHOPHORA.
Ex.--_Peripatus._
Grade C. EUARTHROPODA.
Class 1. DIPLOPODA.
Ex.--_Julus._
Class 2. ARACHNIDA.
Grade a. Anomomeristica.
Ex.--_Phacops._
Grade b. Nomomeristica.
(a) Pantopoda.
Ex.--_Pycnogonum._
(b) Euarachnida.
Ex.--_Limulus, Scorpio, Mygale, Acarus._
Class 3. CRUSTACEA.
Grade a. Entomostraca.
Ex.--_Apus, Branchipus, Cyclops, Balanus._
Grade b. Malacostraca.
Ex.--_Nebalia, Astacus, Oniscus, Gammarus._
Class 4. CHILOPODA.
Ex.--_Scolopendra._
Class 5. HEXAPODA (syn. Insecta Pterygota).
Ex.--_Locusta, Phryganea, Papilio, Apis, Mnsca, Cimex, Lucanus,
Machilis._
_Incertae sedis_--Tardigrada, Pentastomidae (degenerate forms).
_The Segmentation of the Body of Arthropoda._--The body of the
Arthropoda is more or less clearly divided into a series of rings,
segments, or somites which can be shown to be repetitions one of
another, possessing identical parts and organs which may be larger or
smaller, modified in shape or altogether suppressed in one somite as
compared with another. A similar constitution of the body is more
clearly seen in the Chaetopod worms. In the Vertebrata also a
repetition of units of structure (myotomes, vertebrae, &c.)--which is
essentially of the same nature as the repetition in Arthropods and
Chaetopods, but in many respects subject to peculiar developments--is
observed. The name "metamerism" has been given to this structural
phenomenon because the "meres," or repeated units, follow one another
in line. Each such "mere" is often called a "metamere." A satisfactory
consideration of the structure of the Arthropods demands a knowledge
of what may be called the laws of metamerism, and reference should be
made to the article under that head.
[Illustration: From Goodrich, _Q. J. Micr. Sci._ vol. xi p. 247.
FIG. 2.--Diagram of the head and adjacent region of an Ohgochaet
Chaetopod.
Pr, The prostomium.
m, The mouth.
A, The prostomial ganglion-mass or archi-cerebrum.
I, II, III, coelom of the first, second and third somites.]
_The Theory of the Arthropod Head._--The Arthropod head is a tagma or
group of somites which differ in number and in their relative position
in regard to the mouth, in different classes. In a simple Chaetopod
(fig. 2) the head consists of the first somite only; that somite is
perforated by the mouth, and is provided with a prostomium or
prae-oral lobe. The prostomium is essentially a part or outgrowth of
the first somite, and cannot be regarded as itself a somite. It gives
rise to a nerve-ganglion mass, the prostomial ganglion. In the marine
Chaetopods (the Polychaeta) (fig. 3), we find the same essential
structure, but the prostomium may give rise to two or more tactile
tentacles, and to the vesicular eyes. The somites have well-marked
parapodia, and the second and third, as well as the first, may give
rise to tentacles which are directed forward, and thus contribute to
form "the head." But the mouth remains as an inpushing of the wall of
the first somite.
[Illustration: FIG. 3.--Diagram of the head and adjacent region of a
Polychaet Chaetopod Letters as in fig. 1, with the addition of T,
prostomial tentacle; _Pa_, parapodium. (From Goodrich.)]
The Arthropoda are all distinguished from the Chaetopoda by the fact
that the head consists of one or more somites which lie _in front of
the mouth_ (now called prosthomeres), as well as of one or more
somites behind it (opisthomeres). The first of the post-oral somites
invariably has its parapodia modified so as to form a pair of
hemignaths (mandibles). About 1870 the question arose for discussion
whether the somites in front of the mouth are to be considered as
derived from the prostomium of a Chaetopod-like ancestor.
Milne-Edwards and Huxley had satisfied themselves with discussing and
establishing, according to the data at their command, the number of
somites in the Arthropod head, but had not considered the question of
the _nature_ of the prae-oral somites. Lankester (2) was the first to
suggest that (as is actually the fact in the Nauplius larva of the
Crustacea) the prae-oral somites or prosthomeres and their appendages
were ancestrally post-oral, but have become prae-oral "by adaptational
shifting of the oral aperture." This has proved to be a sound
hypothesis and is now accepted as the basis upon which the Arthropod
head must be interpreted (see Korschelt and Heider (3)). Further, the
morphologists of the 'fifties appear, with few exceptions, to have
accepted a preliminary scheme with regard to the Arthropod head and
Arthropod segmentation generally, which was misleading and caused them
to adopt forced conclusions and interpretations. It was conceived by
Huxley, among others, that the same number of cephalic somites would
be found to be characteristic of all the diverse classes of
Arthropoda, and that the somites, not only of the head but of the
various regions of the body, could be closely compared in their
numerical sequence in classes so distinct as the Hexapods, Crustaceans
and Arachnids.
The view which it now appears necessary to take is, on the contrary,
this--viz that all the Arthropoda are to be traced to a common
ancestor resembling a Chaetopod worm, but differing from it in having
lost its chaetae and in having a prosthomere in front of the mouth
(instead of prostomium only) and a pair of hemignaths (mandibles) on
the parapodia of the buccal somite. From this ancestor Arthropods with
heads of varying degrees of complexity have been developed
characteristic of the different classes, whilst the parapodia and
somites of the body have become variously modified and grouped in
these different classes. The resemblances which the members of one
class often present to the members of another class in regard to the
form of the limb-branches (rami) of the parapodia and the formation of
tagmata (regions) are not hastily to be ascribed to common
inheritance, but we must consider whether they are not due to
homoplasy--that is, to the moulding of natural selection acting in the
different classes upon fairly similar elements under like exigencies.
[Illustration: FIG. 4.--Diagram of the head and adjacent region of
_Peripatus_. Monoprosthomerous.
m, Mouth.
I, Coelom of the first somite which carries the antennae and is in
front of the mouth.
II, Coelom of the second somite which carries the mandibles (hence
deuterognathous).
III and IV, Coelom of the third and fourth somites.
FP, Rudimentary frontal processes perhaps representing the
prostomial tentacles of Polychaeta.
Ant, Antenna or tactile tentacle.
Md, Mandible.
Op, Oral-papilla.
P, Protocerebrum or foremost cerebral mass belonging to the first
somite.
D, Deuterocerebrum, consisting of ganglion cells belonging to the
second or mandibular somite. (After Goodrich.)]
The structure of the head in Arthropods presents _three_ profoundly
separated grades of structure dependent upon the number of
prosthomeres which have been assimilated by the prae-oral region. The
classes presenting these distinct plans of head-structure cannot be
closely associated in any scheme of classification professing to be
natural. Penpatus, the type-genus of the class Onychophora, stands at
the base of the series with only a single prosthomere (fig. 4). In
Peripatus the prostomium of the Chaetopod-like ancestor is atrophied,
but it is possible that two processes on the front of the head (FP)
represent in the embryo the dwindled prostomial tentacles. The single
prosthomere carries the retractile tentacles as its "parapodia." The
second somite is the buccal somite (II, fig. 4); its parapodia have
horny jaws on their ends, like the claws on the following legs (fig.
9), and act as hemignaths (mandibles). The study of sections of the
embryo establishes these facts beyond doubt. It also shows us that the
neuromeres, no less than the embryonic coelomic cavities, point to the
existence of one, and only one, prosthomerp in Peripatus, of which the
"protocerebrum," P, is the neuromere, whilst the deuterocerebrum, D,
is the neuromere of the second or buccal somite. A brief indication of
these facts is given by saying that the Onychophora are
"deuterognathous"--that is to say, that the buccal somite carrying the
mandibular hemignaths is the second of the whole series.
What has become of the nerve-ganglion of the prostomial lobe of the
Chaetopod in Peripatus is not clearly ascertained, nor is its fate
indicated by the study of the embryonic head of other Arthropods so
far. Probably it is fused with the protocerebrum, and may also be
concerned in the history of the very peculiar paired eyes of
Peripatus, which are like those of Chaetopods in structure--viz
vesicles with an intravesicular lens, whereas the eyes of all other
Arthropods have essentially another structure, being "cups" of the
epidermis, in which a knob-like or rod-like thickening of the cuticle
is fitted as refractive medium.
In Diplopoda (_Julus_, &c.) the results of embryological study point
to a composition of the front part of the head exactly similar to that
which we find in Onychophora. They are deuterognathous.
[Illustration: FIG. 5.--Diagram of the head and adjacent region of an
Arachnid. Diprosthomerous in the adult condition, though
embryologically the appendages of somite II and the somite itself are,
as here drawn, not actually in front of the mouth.
E, Lateral eye.
Ch, Chelicera.
m, Mouth.
P, Protocerebrum,
D, Deuterocerebrum.
I, II, III, IV. Coelom of the first, second, third and fourth
somites. (After Goodrich.)]
The Arachnida present the first stage of progress. Here embryology
shows that there are two prosthomeres (fig. 5), and that the
gnathobases of the chelae which act as the first pair of hemignaths
are carried by the third somite. The Arachnida are therefore
tritognathous. The two prosthomeres are indicated by their coelomic
cavities in the embryo (I and II, fig. 5), and by two neuromeres, the
protocerebrum and the deuterocerebrum. The appendages of the first
prosthomere are not present as tentacles, as in Peripatus and
Diplopods, but are possibly represented by the eyes or possibly
altogether aborted. The appendages of the second prosthomere are the
well-known chelicerae of the Arachnids, rarely, if ever, antenniform,
but modified as "retroverts" or clasp-knife tangs in spiders.
The Crustacea (fig. 6) and the Hexapoda (fig. 7) agree in having three
somites in front of the mouth, and it is probable, though not
ascertained, that the Chilopoda (Scolopendra, &c.) are in the same
case. The three prosthomeres or prae-oral somites of Crustacea due to
the sinking back of the mouth one somite farther than in Arachnida are
not clearly indicated by coelomic cavities in the embryo, but their
existence is clearly established by the development and position of
the appendages and by the neuromeres.
The eyes in some Crustacea are mounted on articulated stalks, and from
the fact that they can after injury be replaced by antenna-like
appendages it is inferred that they represent the parapodia of the
most anterior prosthomere. The second prosthomere carries the first
pair of antennae and the third the second pair of antennae. Sometimes
the pair of appendages has not a merely tactile jointed ramus, but is
converted into a claw or clasper. Three neuromeres--a proto-,
deutero-, and trito-cerebrum--corresponding to those three
prosthomeres are sharply marked in the embryo. The fourth somite is
that in which the mouth now opens, and which accordingly has its
appendages converted into hemignathous mandibles. The Crustacea are
tetartognathous.
[Illustration: FIG. 6.--Diagram of the head of a Crustacean.
Tri-prosthomerous.
FP, Frontal processes (observed in Cirrhiped nauplius-larvae)
probably representing the prostomial tentacles of Chaetopods.
e, Eye.
Ant^1, First pair of antennae.
Ant^2, Second pair of antennae.
md, Mandible.
mx^1, mx^2, First and second pairs of maxillae.
m, Mouth.
I, II, and III, The three prosthomeres.
IV, V, VI, The three somites following the mouth.
P, Protocerebrum.
D, Deuterocerebrum.
T, Tritocerebrum.
(After Goodrich.)]
[Illustration: FIG. 7.--Diagram of the head of a Hexapod insect.
e, Eye.
ant, Antenna.
md, Mandible.
mx^1, First maxilla.
mx^2, Second maxilla.
m, Mouth.
I, Region of the first or eye-bearing prosthomere.
II, Coelom of the second antenna-bearing prosthomere.
III, Coelom of the third prosthomere devoid of appendages.
IV, V, and VI, Coelom of the fourth, fifth and sixth somites.
P, Protocerebrum belonging to the first prosthomere.
D, Deuterocerebrum belonging to the second prosthomere.
T, Tritocerebrum belonging to the third prosthomere.
(After Goodrich.)]
The history of the development of the head has been carefully worked
out in the Hexapod insects. As in Crustacea and Arachnida, a first
prosthomere is indicated by the paired eyes and the protocerebrum; the
second prosthomere has a well-marked coelomic cavity, carries the
antennae, and has the deuterocerebrum for its neuromere. The third
prosthomere is represented by a well-marked pair of coelomic cavities
and the tritocerebrum (III, fig. 7), but has no appendages. They
appear to have aborted. The existence of this third prosthomere
corresponding to the third prosthomere of the Crustacea is a strong
argument for the derivation of the Hexapoda, and with them the
Chilopoda, from some offshoot of the Crustacean stem or class. The
buccal somite, with its mandibles, is in Hexapoda, as in Crustacea,
the fourth: they are tetartognathous.
The adhesion of a greater or less number of somites to the buccal
somite posteriorly (opisthomeres) is a matter of importance, but of
minor importance, in the theory and history of the Arthropod head. In
Peripatus no such adhesion or fusion occurs. In Diplopoda two
opisthomeres--that is to say, one in addition to the buccal
somite--are united by a fusion of their terga with the terga of the
prosthomeres. Their appendages are respectively the mandibles and the
gnathochilarium.
In Arachnida the highest forms exhibit a fusion of the tergites of
five post-oral somites to form one continuous carapace united with the
terga of the two prosthomeres. The five pairs of appendages of the
post-oral somites of the head or prosoma thus constituted all
primitively carry gnathobasic projections on their coxal joints, which
act as hemignaths: in the more specialized forms the mandibular
gnathobases cease to develop.
In Crustacea the fourth or mandibular somite never has less than the
two following somites associated with it by the adaptation of their
appendages as jaws, and the ankylosis of their terga with that of the
prosthomeres. But in higher Crustacea the cephalic "tagma" is
extended, and more somites are added to the fusion, and their
appendages adapted as jaws of a kind.
The Hexapoda are not known to us in their earlier or more primitive
manifestations; we only know them as possessed of a definite number of
somites arranged in definite numbers in three great tagmata. The head
shows two jaw-bearing somites besides the mandibular somite (V, VI, in
fig. 7)--thus six in all (as in some Crustacea), including
prosthomeres, all ankylosed by their terga to form a cephalic shield.
There is, however, good embryological evidence in some Hexapods of the
existence of a seventh somite, the supra-lingual, occurring between
the somite of the mandibles and the somite of the first maxillae (4).
This segment is indicated embryologically by its paired coelomic
cavities. It is practically an excalated somite, having no existence
in the adult. It is probably not a mere coincidence that the Hexapod,
with its two rudimentary somites devoid of appendages, is thus found
to possess twenty-one somites, including that which carries the anus,
and that this is also the number present in the Malacostracous
Crustacea.
[Illustration: FIG. 8.--Diagram of the somite-appendage or parapodium
of a Polychaet Chaetopod. The chaetae are omitted.
Ax, The axis.
nr.c, Neuropodial cirrhus.
nr.l^1, nr.l^2, Neuropodial lobes or endites.
nt.c. Notopodial cirrhus.
nt.l^1, nt.l^2, Notopodial lobes or exites.
The parapodium is represented with its neural or ventral surface
uppermost. (Original).]
_The Segmented Lateral Appendages or Limbs of Arthropoda._--It has
taken some time to obtain any general acceptance of the view that the
parapodia of the Chaetopoda and the limbs of Arthropoda are
genetically identical structures; yet if we compare the parapodium of
Tomopteris or of Phyllodoce with one of the foliaceous limbs of
Branchipus or Apus, the correspondences of the two are striking. An
erroneous view of the fundamental morphology of the Crustacean limb,
and consequently of that of other Arthropoda, came into favour owing
to the acceptance of the highly modified limbs of Astacus as typical.
Protopodite, endopodite, exopodite, and epipodite were considered to
be the morphological units of the crustacean limb. Lankester (5) has
shown (and his views have been accepted by Professors Korschelt and
Heider in their treatise on _Embryology_) that the limb of the lowest
Crustacea, such as Apus, consists of a corm or axis which may be
jointed, and gives rise to outgrowths, either leaf-like or filiform,
on its inner and outer margins (endites and exites). Such a corm (see
figs. 10 and 11), with its outgrowths, may be compared to the simple
parapodia of Chaetopoda with cirrhi and branchial lobe (fig. 8). It is
by the specialization of two "endites" that the endopodite and
exopodite of higher Crustacea are formed, whilst a flabelliform exite
is the homogen or genetic equivalent of the epipodite (see Lankester,
"Observations and Reflections on Apus Cancriformis," _Q. J. Micr.
Sci._). The reduction of the outgrowth-bearing "corm" of the
parapodium of either a Chaetopod or an Arthropod to a simple
cylindrical stump, devoid of outgrowths, is brought about when
mechanical conditions favour such a shape. We see it in certain
Chaetopods (e.g. Hesione) and in the Arthropod Peripatus (fig. 9). The
conversion of the Arthropod's limb into a jaw, as a rule, is effected
by the development of an endite near its base into a hard, chitinized,
and often toothed gnathobase (see figs. 10 and 11, _en^1_). It is not
true that all the biting processes of the Arthropod limb are thus
produced--for instance, the jaws of Peripatus are formed by the axis
or corm itself, whilst the poison-jaws of Chilopods, as also their
maxillae, appear to be formed rather by the apex or terminal region of
the ramus of the limb; but the opposing jaws (= hemignaths) of
Crustacea, Arachnida and Hexapoda are gnathobases, and not the axis or
corm. The endopodite (corresponding to the fifth endite of the limb of
Apus, see fig. 10) becomes in Crustacea the "walking leg" of the
mid-region of the body; it becomes the palp or jointed process of
anterior segments. A second ramus, the "exopodite," often is also
retained in the form of a palp or feeler. In Apus, as the figure
shows, there are four of these "antenna-like" palps or filaments on
the first thoracic limb. A common modification of the chief ramus of
the Arthropod parapodium is the chela or nipper formed by the
elongation of the penultimate joint of the ramus, so that the last
joint works on it--as, for instance, in the lobster's claw. Such
chelate rami or limb-branches are independently developed in Crustacea
and in Arachnida, and are carried by somites of the body which do not
correspond in position in the two groups. The range of modification of
which the rami or limb-branches of the limbs of Arthropoda are capable
is very large, and in allied orders or even families or genera we
often find what is certainly the palp of the same appendage (as
determined by numerical position of the segments)--in one case
antenniform, in another chelate, in another pediform, and in another
reduced to a mere stump or absent altogether. Very probably the power
which the appendage of a given segment has of assuming the perfected
form and proportions previously attained by the appendage of another
segment must be classed as an instance of "homoeosis," not only where
such a change is obviously due to abnormal development or injury, but
also where it constitutes a difference permanently established between
allied orders or smaller groups, or between the two sexes.
[Illustration: FIG. 9.--Three somite-appendages or parapodia of
_Peripatus._
A, A walking leg; p^1 to p^4, the characteristic "pads"; f, the
foot; cl^1, cl^2, the two claws.
B, An oral papilla, one of the second pair of post-oral appendages.
C, One of the first post-oral pair of appendages or mandibles; cl^1,
cl^2, the greatly enlarged claws. (Compare A.)
The appendages are represented with the neural or ventral surface
uppermost.]
The most extreme disguise assumed by the Arthropod parapodium or
appendage is that of becoming a mere stalk supporting an eye--a fact
which did not obtain general credence until the experiments of Herbst
in 1895, who found, on cutting off the eye-stalk of Palaemon, that a
jointed antenna-like appendage was regenerated in its place. Since the
eye-stalks of Podophthalmate Crustacea represent appendages, we are
forced to the conclusion that the sessile eyes of other Crustacea, and
of other Arthropoda generally, indicate the position of appendages
which have atrophied.[2]
From what has been said, it is apparent that we cannot, in attempting
to discover the affinities and divergences of the various forms of
Arthropoda, attach a very high phylogenetic value to the coincidence
or divergence in form of the appendages belonging to the somites
compared with one another.
[Illustration: After Lankester, _Q. J. Mic. Sci._ vol. xxi., 1881.
FIG. 10.--The second thoracic (fifth post-oral) appendage of the left
side of _Apus cancriformis_, placed with its ventral or neural surface
uppermost to compare with figs. 8 and 9.
1, 2, The two segments of the axis.
en^1, The gnathobase.
en^2 to en^6, The five following "endites."
fl, The flabellum or anterior exite.
br, The bract or posterior exite.]
The principal forms assumed by the Arthropod parapodium and its rami
may be thus enumerated:--
(1) Axial corm well developed, unsegmented or with two to four
segments; lateral endites and exites (rami) numerous and of various
lengths (certain limbs of lower Crustacea).
(2) Corm, with short unsegmented rami, forming a flattened foliaceous
appendage, adapted to swimming and respiration (trunk-limbs of
Phyllopods).
(3) Corm alone developed; with no endites or exites, but provided with
terminal chitinous claws (ordinary leg of Peripatus), with terminal
jaw teeth (jaw of Peripatus), or with blunt extremity (oral papilla of
same) (see fig. 9).
(4) Three of the rami of the primitive limb (endites 5 and 6, and
exite 1) specially developed as endopodite, exopodite, and
epipodite--the first two often as firm and strongly chitinized,
segmented, leg-like structures; the original axis or corm reduced to a
basal piece, with or without a distinct gnathobase (endite 1)--typical
tri-ramose limb of higher Crustacea.
(5) One ramus (the endopodite) alone developed--the original axis or
corm serving as its basal joint with or without gnathobase. This is
the usual uni-ramose limb found in the various classes of Arthropoda.
It varies as to the presence or absence of the jaw-process and as to
the stoutness of the segments of the ramus, their number (frequently
six, plus the basal corm), and the modification of the free end. This
may be filiform or brush-like or lamellate when it is an antenna or
palp; a simple spike (walking leg of Crustacea, of other aquatic
forms, and of Chilopods and Diplopods); the terminal joint flattened
(swimming leg of Crustacea and Gigantostraca); the terminal joint
provided with two or with three recurved claws (walking leg of many
terrestrial forms--e.g. Hexapoda and Arachnida); the penultimate joint
with a process equal in length to the last joint, so as to form a
nipping organ (chelae of Crustaceans and Arachnids); the last joint
reflected and movable on the penultimate, as the blade of a
clasp-knife on its handle (the retrovert, toothed so as to act as a
biting jaw in the Hexapod _Mantis_, the Crustacean _Squilla_ and
others); with the last joint produced into a needle-like stabbing
process in spiders.
[Illustration: After Lankester, _Q. J. Mic. Sci._ vol. xxi., 1881.
FIG. 11.--The first thoracic (fourth post-oral) appendage of _Apus
cancriformis_ (right side).
Ax^1 to Ax^4, the four segments of the axis with muscular bands.
En^1, Gnathobase.
En^2 to En^5, The elongated jointed endites (rami).
En^6, The rudimentary sixth endite (exopodite of higher Crustacea).
Fl, The flabellum which becomes the epipodite of higher forms.
Br, The bract devoid of muscles and respiratory in function.]
(6) Two rami developed (usually, but perhaps not always, the
equivalents of the endopodite and exopodite) supported on the somewhat
elongated corm (basal segment). This is the typical "bi-ramose limb"
often found in Crustacea. The rami may be flattened for swimming, when
it is "a bi-ramose swimmeret," or both or only one may be filiform and
finely annulate; this is the form often presented by the antennae of
Crustacea, and rarely by prae-oral appendages in other Arthropods.
(7) The endopoditic ramus is greatly enlarged and flattened, without
or with only one jointing, the corm (basal segment) is evanescent;
often the plate-like endopodites of a pair of such appendages unite in
the middle line with one another or by the intermediary of a sternal
up-growth and form a single broad plate. These are the plate-like
swimmerets and opercula of Gigantostraca and Limulus among Arachnids
and of Isopod Crustaceans. They may have rudimentary exopodites, and
may or may not have branchial filaments or lamellae developed on their
posterior faces. The simplest form to which they may be reduced is
seen in the genital operculum of the scorpion.
(8) The gnathobase becomes greatly enlarged and not separated by a
joint from the corm; it acts as a hemignath or half jaw working
against its fellow of the opposite side. The endopodite may be
retained as a small segmented palp at the side of the gnathobase or
disappear (mandible of Crustacea, Chilopoda and Hexapoda).
(9) The corm becomes the seat of a development of a special visual
organ, the Arthropod eye (as opposed to the Chaetopod eye). Its
jointing (segmentation) may be retained, but its rami disappear
(Podophthalmous Crustacea). Usually it becomes atrophied, leaving the
eye as a sessile organ upon the prae-oral region of the body (the
eye-stalk and sessile lateral eyes of Arthropoda generally, exclusive
of Peripatus).
(10) The forms assumed by special modification of the elements of the
parapodium in the maxillae, labium, &c., of Hexapods, Chilopods,
Diplopods, and of various Crustacea, deserve special enumeration, but
cannot be dealt with without ample space and illustration.
It may be pointed out that the most radical difference presented in
this list is that between appendages consisting of the corm alone
without rami (Onychophora) and those with more or less developed rami
(the rest of the Arthropoda). In the latter class we should
distinguish three phases: (a) those with numerous and comparatively
undeveloped rami; (b) those with three, or two highly developed rami,
or with only one--the corm being reduced to the dimensions of a mere
basal segment; (c) those reduced to a secondary simplicity
(degeneration) by overwhelming development of one segment (e.g. the
isolated gnathobase often seen as "mandible" and the genital
operculum).
There is no reason to suppose that any of the forms of limb observed
in Arthropoda may not have been independently developed in two or more
separate diverging lines of descent.
_Branchiae._--In connexion with the discussion of the limbs of
Arthropods, a few words should be devoted to the gill-processes. It
seems probable that there are branchial plumes or filaments in some
Arthropoda (some Crustacea) which can be identified with the distinct
branchial organs of Chaetopoda, which lie dorsal of the parapodia and
are not part of the parapodium. On the other hand, we cannot refuse to
admit that any of the processes of an Arthropod parapodium may become
modified as branchial organs, and that, as a rule, branchial
out-growths are easily developed, _de novo_, in all the higher groups
of animals. Therefore, it seems to be, with our present knowledge, a
hopeless task to analyse the branchial organs of Arthropoda and to
identify them genetically in groups.
A brief notice must suffice of the structure and history of the
_Eyes_, the _Tracheae_ and the so-called _Malpighian tubes_ of
Arthropoda, though special importance attaches to each in regard to
the determination of the affinities of the various animals included in
this great sub-phylum.
_The Eyes._--The Arthropod eye appears to be an organ of special
character developed in the common ancestor of the Euarthropoda, and
distinct from the Chaetopod eye, which is found only in the
Onychophora where the true Arthropod eye is absent. The essential
difference between these two kinds of eye appears to be that the
Chaetopod eye (in its higher developments) is a vesicle enclosing the
lens, whereas the Arthropod eye is a pit or series of pits into which
the heavy chitinous cuticle dips and enlarges knobwise as a lens. Two
distinct forms of the Arthropod eye are observed--the monomeniscous
(simple) and the polymeniscous (compound). The nerve-end-cells, which
lie below the lens, are part of the general epidermis. They show in
the monomeniscous eye (see article ARACHNIDA, fig. 26) a tendency to
group themselves into "retinulae," consisting of five to twelve cells
united by vertical deposits of chitin (rhabdoms). In the case of the
polymeniscous eye (fig. 23, article ARACHNIDA) a single retinula or
group of nerve-end-cells is grouped beneath each associated lens. A
further complication occurs in each of these two classes of eye. The
monomeniscous eye is rarely provided with a single layer of cells
beneath its lens; when it is so, it is called monostichous (simple
lateral eye of Scorpion, fig. 22, article ARACHNIDA). More usually, by
an infolding of the layer of cells in development, we get three layers
under the lens; the front layer is the corneagen layer, and is
separated by a membrane from the other two which, more or less, fuse
and contain the nerve-end-cells (retinal layer). These eyes are called
diplostichous, and occur in Arachnida and Hexapoda (fig. 24, article
ARACHNIDA).
On the other hand, the polymeniscous eye undergoes special elaboration
on its lines. The retinulae become elongated as deep and very narrow
pits (fig. 12 and explanation), and develop additional cells near the
mouth of the narrow pit. Those nearest to the lens are the corneagen
cells of this more elaborated eye, and those between the original
retinula cells and the corneagen cells become firm and transparent.
They are the crystalline cells or vitrella (see Watase, 7). Each such
complex of cells underlying the lenticle of a compound eye is called
an "ommatidium"; the entire mass of cells underlying a monomeniscous
eye is an "ommataeum." The ommataeum, as already stated, tends to
segregate into retinulae which correspond potentially each to an
ommatidium of the compound eye. The ommatidium is from the first
segregate and consists of few cells. The compound eye of the king-crab
(Limulus) is the only recognized instance of ommatidia in their
simplest state. Each can be readily compared with the single-layered
lateral eye of the scorpion. In Crustacea and Hexapoda of all grades
we find compound eyes with the more complicated ommatidia described
above. We do not find them in any Arachnida.
It is difficult in the absence of more detailed knowledge as to the
eyes of Chilopoda and Diplopoda to give full value to these facts in
tracing the affinities of the various classes of Arthropods. But they
seem to point to a community of origin of Hexapods and Crustacea in
regard to the complicated ommatidia of the compound eye, and to a
certain isolation of the Arachnida, which are, however, traceable, so
far as the eyes are concerned, to a distant common origin with
Crustacea and Hexapoda through the very simple compound eyes
(monostichous, polymeniscous) of Limulus.
[Illustration: FIG. 12.--Diagram to show the derivation of the unit or
"ommatidium" of the compound eye of Crustacea and Hexapoda, C, from a
simple monomeniscous monostichous eye resembling the lateral eye of a
scorpion, A, or the unit of the compound lateral eye of Limulus (see
article ARACHNIDA, figs. 22 and 23). B represents an intermediate
hypothetical form in which the cells beneath the lens are beginning to
be superimposed as corneagen, vitrella and retinula, instead of
standing side by side in horizontal series. The black represents the
cuticular product of the epidermal cells of the ocular area, taking
the form either of lens, _cl_, of crystalline body, _cry_, or of
rhabdom, _rhab_; _hy_, hypodermis or epidermal cells; _corn^1_,
laterally-placed cells in the simpler stage, A, which like the
nerve-end cells, _vit^1_ and _ret^1_, are corneagens or
lens-producing; _corn_, specialized corneagen or lens-producing cells;
_vit^1_, potential vitrella cells with _cry^1_, potential crystalline
body now indistinguishable from retinula cells and rhabdomeres; _vit_,
vitrella cell with _cry_, its contained cuticular product, the
crystalline cone or body; _ret^1_, _rhab^1_, retinula cells and
rhabdom of scorpion undifferentiated from adjacent cells, _vit^1;
ret_, retinula cell; _rhab_, rhabdom; _nf_, optic nerve-fibres.
(Modified from Watase.)]
_The Tracheae._--In regard to tracheae the very natural tendency of
zoologists has been until lately to consider them as having once
developed and once only, and therefore to hold that a group
"Tracheata" should be recognized, including all tracheate Arthropods.
We are driven by the conclusions arrived at as to the derivation of
the Arachnida from branchiate ancestors, independently of the other
tracheate Arthropods, to formulate the conclusion that tracheae have
been independently developed in the Arachnidan class. We are also, by
the isolation of Peripatus and the impossibility of tracing to it all
other tracheate Arthropoda, or of regarding it as a degenerate offset
from some one of the tracheate classes, forced to the conclusion that
the tracheae of the Onychophora have been independently acquired.
Having accepted these two conclusions, we formulate the generalization
that tracheae can be independently acquired by various branches of
Arthropod descent in adaptation to a terrestrial as opposed to an
aquatic mode of life. A great point of interest therefore exists in
the knowledge of the structure and embryology of tracheae in the
different groups. It must be confessed that we have not such full
knowledge on this head as could be wished for. Tracheae are
essentially tubes like blood-vessels--apparently formed from the same
tissue elements as blood-vessels--which contain air in place of blood,
and usually communicate by definite orifices, the tracheal stigmata,
with the atmosphere. They are lined internally by a cuticular deposit
of chitin. In Peripatus and the Diplopods they consist of bunches of
fine tubes which do not branch but diverge from one another; the
chitinous lining is smooth. In the Hexapods and Chilopods, and the
Arachnids (usually), they form tree-like branching structures, and
their finest branches are finer than any blood-capillary, actually in
some cases penetrating a single cell and supplying it with gaseous
oxygen. In these forms the chitinous lining of the tubes is thickened
by a close-set spiral ridge similar to the spiral thickening of the
cellulose wall of the spiral vessels of plants. It is a noteworthy
fact that other tubes in these same terrestrial Arthropoda--namely,
the ducts of glands--are similarly strengthened by a chitinous
cuticle, and that a spiral or annular thickening of the cuticle is
developed in them also. Chitin is _not_ exclusively an ectodermal
product, but occurs also in cartilaginous skeletal plates of
mesoblastic origin (connective tissue). The immediate cavities or pits
into which the tracheal stigmata open appear to be in many cases
ectodermic in sinkings, but there seems to be no reason (based on
embryological observation) for regarding the tracheae as an ingrowth
of the ectoderm. They appear, in fact, to be an air-holding
modification of the vasifactive connective tissue. Tracheae are
abundant just in proportion as blood-vessels become suppressed. They
are reciprocally exclusive. It seems not improbable that they are two
modifications of the same tissue-elements. In Peripatus the stigmatic
pits at which the tracheae communicate with the atmosphere are
scattered and not definite in their position. In other cases the
stigmata are definitely paired and placed in a few segments or in
several. It seems that we have to suppose that the vasifactive tissue
of Arthropoda can readily take the form of air-holding instead of
blood-holding tubes, and that this somewhat startling change in its
character has taken place independently in several instances--viz. in
the Onychophora, in more than one group of Arachnida, in Diplopoda,
and again in the Hexapoda and Chilopoda.
_The Malpighian Tubes._--This name is applied to the numerous fine
caecal tubes of noticeable length developed from the proctodaeal
invert of ectodermal origin in Hexapods. These tubes are shown to
excrete nitrogenous waste products similar to uric acid. Tubes of
renal excretory function in a like position occur in most terrestrial
Arthropoda--viz. in Chilopoda, Diplopoda and Arachnida. They are also
found in some of the semi-terrestrial and purely aquatic Amphipod
Crustaceans. But the conclusion that all such tubes are identical in
essential character seems to be without foundation. The Malpighian
tubes of Hexapods are outgrowths of the proctodaeum, but those of
Scorpion and the Amphipod Crustacea are part of the metenteron or
endodermal gut, though originating near its junction with the
proctodaeum. Hence the presence or absence of such tubes cannot be
used as an argument as to affinity without some discrimination. The
Scorpion's so-called Malpighian tubes are _not_ the same organs as
those so named in the other Tracheata. Such renal caecal tubes seem to
be readily evolved from either metenteron or proctodaeum when the
conditions of the out-wash of nitrogenous waste-products are changed
by the transference from aquatic to terrestrial life. The absence of
such renal caeca in Limulus and their presence in the terrestrial
Arachnida is precisely on a parallel with their absence in aquatic
Crustacea and their presence in the feebly branchiate Amphipoda.
_Group Characters._--We shall now pass the groups of the Arthropoda in
review, attempting to characterize them in such a way as will indicate
their probable affinities and genetic history.
SUB-PHYLUM ARTHROPODA.--The characters of the sub-phylum and those of
the associated sub-phyla Chaetopoda and Rotifera have been given
above, as well as the general characters of the phylum Appendiculata
which comprises these great sub-phyla.
Grade A.--Hyparthropoda.
Hypothetical forms.
Grade B.--Protarthropoda.
(a) The integument is covered by a delicate soft cuticle (not firm or
plated) which allows the body and its appendages great range of
extension and contraction.
(b) The paired claws on the ends of the parapodia and the fang-like
modifications of these on the first post-oral appendages (mandibles)
are the only hard chitinous portions of the integument.
(c) The head is deuterognathous--that is to say, there is only one
prosthomere, and accordingly the first and only pair of hemignaths is
developed by adaptation of the appendages of the second somite.
(d) The appendages of the third somite (second post-oral) are clawless
oral papillae.
(e) The rest of the somites carry equi-formal simple appendages,
consisting of a corm or axis tipped with two chitinous claws and
devoid of rami.
(f) The segmentation of the body is anomomeristic, there being no
fixed number of somites characterizing all the forms included.
(g) The pair of eyes situated on the prosthomere are not of the
Euarthropod type, but resemble those of Chaetopods (hence
Nereid-ophthalmous).
(h) The muscles of the body-wall and gut do not consist of
transversely-striped muscular fibre, but of the unstriped tissue
observed also in Chaetopoda.
(i) A pair of coelomoducts is developed in every somite including the
prosthomere, in which alone it atrophies in later development.
(j) The ventral nerve-cords are widely separated--in fact, lateral in
position.
(k) There are no masses of nerve-cells forming a ganglion (neuromere)
in each somite. (In this respect the Protarthropoda are at a lower
stage than most of the existing Chaetopoda.)
(l) The genital ducts are formed by the enlargement of the
coelomoducts of the penultimate somite.
Class (Unica).--ONYCHOPHORA.
With the characters of the grade: add the presence within the body of
fine unbranched tracheal tubes, devoid of spiral thickening, opening
to the exterior by numerous irregularly scattered tracheal pits.
Genera--Eoperipatus, Peripatopsis, Opisthopatus, &c. (See PERIPATUS.)
Grade C (of the Arthropoda).--Euarthropoda.
(a) Integument heavily plated with firm chitinous cuticle, allowing no
expansion and retraction of regions of the body nor change of
dimensions, except, in some cases, a dorso-ventral bellows movement.
The separation of the heavier plates of chitin by grooves of delicate
cuticle results in the hinging or jointing of the body and its
appendages, and the consequent flexing and extending of the jointed
pieces.
(b) Claws and fangs are developed on the branches or rami of the
parapodia, not on the end of the axis or corm.
(c) The head is either deuterognathous, tritognathous, or
tetartognathous.
(d) Rarely only one, and usually at least two, of the somites
following the mandibular somite carry appendages modified as jaws
(with exceptions of a secondary origin).
(e) The rest of the somites may all carry appendages, or only a
limited number may carry appendages. In all cases the appendages
primarily develop rami or branches which form the limbs, the primitive
axis or corm being reduced and of insignificant size. In the most
primitive stock all the post-oral appendages had gnathobasic
outgrowths.
(f) The segmentation of the body is anomomeristic in the more archaic
members of each class, nomomeristic in the higher members.
(g) The two eyes of Chaetopod structure have disappeared, and are
replaced by the Euarthropod eyes.
(h) The muscles in all parts of the body consist of striped muscular
fibre, never of unstriped muscular tissue.
(i) The coelomoducts are suppressed in most somites, and retained only
as the single pair of genital ducts (very rarely more numerous) and in
some also as the excretory glands (one or two pairs).
(j) The ventral nerve-cords approach one another in the mid-ventral
line behind the mouth.
(k) The nerve-cells of the ventral nerve cords are segregated as
paired ganglia in each somite, often united by meristic dislocation
into composite ganglia.
(l) The genital ducts may be the coelomoducts of the penultimate or
ante-penultimate or adjacent somite, or of a somite placed near the
middle of the series, or of a somite far forward in the series.
Class 1 (of the Euarthropoda).--DIPLOPODA.
The head has but one prosthomere (monoprosthomerous), and is
accordingly deuterognathous. This carries short-jointed antennae (in
one case bi-ramose) and eyes, the structure and development of which
require further elucidation. Only one somite following the first
post-oral or mandibular segment has its appendages modified as jaws.
The somites of the body, except in Pauropus, either fuse after early
development and form double somites with two pairs of appendages
(Julus, &c.), or present legless and leg-bearing somites alternating.
Somites, anomomeristic, from 12 to 150 in the post-cephalic series.
The genital ducts open in the fourth, or between the fourth and fifth
post-oral somite.
Terrestrial forms with small-jointed legs formed by adaptation of a
single ramus of the appendage. Tracheae are present.
_Note._--The Diplopoda include the Juliformia, the Symphyla
(Scolopendrella), and Pauropoda (Pauropus). They were until recently
classified with the Chilopoda (Centipedes), with which they have no
close affinity, but only a superficial resemblance. (Compare the
definition of the class Chilopoda.)
The movement of the legs in Diplopoda is like that of those of
Peripatus, of the Phyllopod Crustacea, and of the parapodia of
Chaetopoda, symmetrical and identical on the two sides of the body.
The legs of Chilopoda move in alternating groups on the two sides of
the body. This implies a very much higher development of nerves and
muscles in the latter. (See MILLIPEDE.)
Class 2 (of the Euarthropoda).--ARACHNIDA.
Head tritognathous and diprosthomerous--that is to say, with two
prosthomeres, the first bearing typical eyes, the second a pair of
appendages reduced to a single ramus, which is in more primitive forms
antenniform, in higher forms chelate or retrovert. The ancestral stock
was pantognathobasic--i.e. had a gnathobase or jaw process on every
parapodium. As many as six pairs of appendages following the mouth may
have an enlarged gnathobase actually functional as a jaw or hemignath,
but a ramus is well developed on each of these appendages either as a
simple walking leg, a palp or a chela. In the more primitive forms the
appendage of every post-oral somite has a gnathobase and two rami; in
higher specialized forms the gnathobases may be atrophied in every
appendage, even in the first post-oral.
The more primitive forms are anomomeristic; the higher forms
nomomeristic, showing typically three groups or tagmata of six somites
each.
The genital apertures are placed on the first somite of the second
tagma or mesosoma. Their position is unknown in the more primitive
forms. The more primitive forms have branchial respiratory processes
developed on a ramus of each of the post-oral appendages. In higher
specialized forms these branchial processes become first of all
limited to five segments of the mesosoma, then sunk beneath the
surface as pulmonary organs, and finally atrophied, their place being
taken by a well-developed tracheal system.
A character of great diagnostic value in the more primitive Arachnida
is the tendency of the chitinous investment of the tergal surface of
the telson to unite during growth with that of the free somites in
front of it, so as to form a pygidial shield or posterior carapace,
often comprising as many as fifteen somites (Trilobites, Limulus).
A pair of central monomeniscous diplostichous eyes is often present on
the head. Lateral eyes also are often present which are monostichous
with aggregated lenses (_Limulus_) or with isolated lenses (Scorpio),
or are diplostichous with simple lens (_Pedipalpi_, Araneae, &c.).
Class 3 (of the Euarthropoda).--CRUSTACEA.
Head tetartognathous and triprosthomerous--that is to say, with three
prosthomeres; the first bearing typical eyes, the second a pair of
antenniform appendages (often bi-ramose), the third a pair of
appendages usually antenniform, sometimes claw-like. The ancestral
stock was (as in the Arachnida) pantognathobasic, that is to say, had
a gnathobase or jaw-process on the base of every post-oral appendage.
Besides the first post-oral or mandibular pair, at least two
succeeding pairs of appendages are modified as jaws. These have small
and insignificant rami, or none at all, a feature in which the
Arachnida differ from them. The appendages of four or more additional
following somites may be turned upwards towards the mouth and assist
in the taking of food.
The more primitive forms (Entomostraca) are anomomeristic, presenting
great variety as to number of somites, form of appendages, and
tagmatic grouping; the higher forms (Malacostraca) are nomomeristic,
showing in front of the telson twenty somites, of which the six hinder
carry swimmerets and the five next in front ambulatory limbs. The
genital apertures are neither far forward nor far backward in the
series of somites, e.g. on the fourteenth post-oral in Apus, on the
ninth post-oral in female Astacus and in Cyclops.
With rare exceptions, branchial plates are developed either by
modification of a ramus of the limbs or as processes on a ramus, or
upon the sides of the body. No tracheate Crustacea are known, but some
terrestrial Isopoda develop pulmonary in-sinkings of the integument. A
characteristic, comparable in value to that presented by the pygidial
shield of Arachnida, is the frequent development of a pair of long
appendages by the penultimate somite, which with the telson form a
trifid, or, when that is small, a bifid termination to the body.
The lateral eyes of Crustacea are polymeniscous, with highly
specialized retinulae like those of Hexapoda, and unlike the simpler
compound lateral eyes of lower Arachnida. Monomeniscous eyes are
rarely present, and when present, single, minute, and central in
position.
_Note._--The Crustacea exhibit a longer and more complete series of
forms than any other class of Arthropoda, and may be regarded as
preserving the most completely represented line of descent.
Class 4.--CHILOPODA.
Head triprosthomerous[3] and tetartognathous. The two somites
following the mandibular or first post-oral or buccal somite carry
appendages modified as maxillae. The fourth post-oral somite has its
appendages converted into very large and powerful hemignaths, which
are provided with poison-glands. The remaining somites carry
single-clawed walking legs, a single pair to each somite. The body is
anomomeristic, showing in different genera from 17 (inclusive of the
anal and genital) to 175 somites behind that which bears the poison
jaws. No tagmata are developed. The genital ducts open on the
penultimate somite.
Tracheae are developed which are dendriform and with spiral thickening
of their lining. Their trunks open at paired stigmata placed laterally
in each somite of the trunk or in alternate somites. Usually the
tracheae open by paired stigmata placed upon the sides of a greater or
less number of the somites, but never quite regularly on alternating
somites. At most they are present on all the pedigerous somites
excepting the first and the last. In _Scutigera_ there are seven
unpaired dorsal stigmata, each leading into a sac whence a number of
air-holding tubes project into the pencardial blood-sinus.
Renal caecal tubes (Malpighian tubes) open into the proctodaeum. (See
CENTIPEDE.)
Class 5.--HEXAPODA.
Head shown by its early development to be triprosthomerous and
consequently tetartognathous. The first prosthomere has its appendages
represented by the compound eyes and a protocerebrum, the second has
the antennae for its appendages and a deutocerebral neuromere, the
third has suffered suppression of its appendages (which corresponded
to the second pair of antennae of Crustacea), but has a tritocerebrum
and coelomic chamber. The mandibular somite bears a pair of
gnathobasic hemignaths without rami or palps, and is followed by two
jaw-bearing somites (maxillary and labial). This enumeration would
give six somites in all to the head--three prosthomeres and three
opisthomeres. Recent investigations (Folsom, 4) show the existence in
the embryo of a prae-maxillary or supra-lingual somite which is
suppressed during development. This gives seven somites to the
Hexapod's head, the tergites of which are fused to form a cephalic
carapace or box. The number is significant, since it agrees with that
found in Edriophthalmous Crustacea, and assigns the labium of the
Hexapod to the same somite numerically as that which carries the
labium-like maxillipedes of those Crustacea.
The somites following the head are strictly nomomeristic and
nomotagmic. The first three form the thorax, the appendages of which
are the walking legs, tipped with paired claws or ungues (compare the
homoplastic claws of Scorpio and Peripatus). Eleven somites follow
these, forming the abdominal "tagma," giving thus twenty-one somites
in all (as in the higher Crustacea). The somites of the abdomen all
may carry rudimentary appendages in the embryo, and some of the hinder
somites may retain their appendages in a modified form in adult life.
Terminal telescoping of the abdominal somites and excalation may occur
in the adult, reducing the obvious abdominal somites to as few as
eight. The genital apertures are median and placed far back in the
series of somites, viz. the female on the seventh abdominal
(seventeenth of the whole series) and the male on the ninth or
ante-penultimate abdominal (nineteenth of the whole series). The
appendages of the eighth and tenth abdominal somites are modified as
gonapophyses. The eleventh abdominal segment is the telson, usually
small and soft; it carries the anus.
The Hexapoda are not only all confined to a very definite disposition
of the somites, appendages and apertures, as thus indicated, but in
other characters also they present the specialization of a
narrowly-limited highly-developed order of such a class as the
Crustacea rather than a range from lower more generalized to higher
more specialized forms such as that group and also the Arachnida
present. It seems to be a legitimate conclusion that the most
primitive Hexapoda were provided with wings, and that the term
Pterygota might be used as a synonym of Hexapoda. Many Hexapoda have
lost either one pair or both pairs of wings; cases are common of
wingless genera allied to ordinary Pterygote genera. Sdme Hexapods
which are very primitive in other respects happen to be also Apterous,
but this cannot be held to prove that the possession of wings is not a
primitive character of Hexapods (compare the case of the Struthious
Birds). The wings of Hexapoda are lateral expansions of the terga of
the second and third thoracic somites. They appear to be serial
equivalents (homogenous meromes) of the tracheal gills, which develop
in a like position on the abdominal segments of some aquatic Hexapods.
The Hexapoda are all provided with a highly developed tracheal system,
which presents considerable variation in regard to its stigmata or
orifices of communication with the exterior. In some a serial
arrangement of stigmata comparable to that observed in Chilopoda is
found. In other cases (some larvae) stigmata are absent; in other
cases again a single stigma is developed, as in the smaller Arachnida
and Chilopoda, in the median dorsal line or other unexpected position.
When the facile tendency of Arthropoda to develop tracheal air-tubes
is admitted, it becomes probable that the tracheae of Hexapods do not
all belong to one original system, but may be accounted for by new
developments within the group. Whether the primitive tracheal system
of Hexapoda was a closed one or open by serial stigmata in every
somite remains at present doubtful, but the intimate relation of the
system to the wings and tracheal gills cannot be overlooked.
The lateral eyes of Hexapoda, like those of Crustacea, belong to the
most specialized type of "compound eye," found only in these two
classes. Simple monomeniscous eyes are also present in many Hexapods.
Renal excretory caeca (Malpighian tubes) are developed from the
proctodaeum (not from mesenteron as in scorpion and Amphipoda).
_Concluding Remarks on the Relationships to one another of the
Classes of the Arthropoda._--Our general conclusion from a survey of
the Arthropoda amounts to this, that whilst Peripatus, the Diplopoda,
and the Arachnida represent terrestrial offshoots from successive
lower grades of primitive aquatic Arthropoda which are extinct, the
Crustacea alone present a fairly full series of representatives
leading upwards from unspecialized forms. The latter were not very far
removed from the aquatic ancestors (Trilobites) of the Arachnida, but
differed essentially from them by the higher specialization of the
head. We can gather no indication of the forefathers of the Hexapoda
or of the Chilopoda less specialized than they are, whilst possessing
the essential characteristics of these classes. Neither embryology nor
palaeontology assists us in this direction. On the other hand, the
facts that the Hexapoda and the Chilopoda have triprosthomerous heads,
that the Hexapoda have the same total number of somites as the
nomomeristic Crustacea, and the same number of opisthomeres in the
head as the more terrestrial Crustacea, together with the same
adaptation of the form of important appendages in corresponding
somites, and that the compound eyes of both Crustacea and Hexapoda are
extremely specialized and elaborate in structure and identical in that
structure, all lead to the suggestion that the Hexapoda, and with
them, at no distant point, the Chilopoda, have branched off from the
Crustacean main stem as specialized terrestrial lines of descent. And
it seems probable that in the case of the Hexapoda, at any rate, the
point of departure was subsequent to the attainment of the
nomomeristic character presented by the higher grade of Crustacea. It
is on the whole desirable to recognize such affinities in our schemes
of classification.
We may tabulate the facts as to head-structure in Chaetopoda and
Arthropoda as follows:--
Grade x (below the Arthropoda).--AGNATHA, APROSTHOMERA.
Without parapodial jaws; without the addition of originally post-oral
somites to the prae-oral region, which is a simple prostomial lobe of
the first somite; the first somite is perforated by the mouth and its
parapodia are not modified as jaws.
= CHARTOPODA.
Grade 1 (of the Arthropoda).--MONOGNATHA, MONOPROSTHOMERA.
With a single pair of parapodial jaws carried by the somite which is
perforated by the mouth; this is not the first somite, but the second.
The first somite has become a prosthomere, and carries a pair of
extensile antennae.
= ONYCHOPHORA (_Peripatus, &c._).
Grade 2 (of the Arthropoda).--DIGNATHA, MONOPROSTHOMERA.
The third somite as well as the second develops a pair of parapodial
jaws; the first somite is a prosthomere carrying jointed antennae.
= DIPLOPODA.
Grade 3 (of the Arthropoda).--PANTOGNATHA, DIPROSTHOMERA.
A gnathobase is developed (in the primitive stock) on every pair of
post-oral appendages; two prosthomeres present, the second somite as
well as the first having passed in front of the mouth, but only the
second has appendages.
= ARACHNIDA.
Grade 4 (of the Arthropoda).--PANTOGNATHA, TRIPROSTHOMERA.
The original stock, like that of the last grade, has a gnathobase on
every post-oral appendage, but three prosthomeres are now present, in
consequence of the movement of the oral aperture from the third to the
fourth somite. The later eyes are polymeniscous, with specialized
vitrellae and retinulae of a definite type peculiar to this grade.
= CRUSTACEA, CHILOPODA, HEXAPODA.
According to older views the increase of the number of somites in
front of the mouth would have been regarded as a case of intercalation
by new somite-budding of new prae-oral somites in the series. We are
prohibited by a general consideration of metamerism in the Arthropoda
from adopting the hypothesis of intercalation of somites. However
strange it may seem, we have to suppose that one by one in the course
of long historical evolution somites have passed forwards and the
mouth has passed backwards. In fact, we have to suppose that the
actual somite which in grades 1 and 2 bore the mandibles lost those
mandibles, developed their rami as tactile organs, and came to occupy
a position in front of the mouth, whilst its previous jaw-bearing
function was taken up by the next somite in order, into which the oral
aperture had passed. A similar history must have been slowly brought
about when this second mandibulate somite in its turn became agnathous
and passed in front of the mouth. The mandibular parapodia may be
supposed during the successive stages of this history to have had,
from the first, well-developed rami (one or two) of a palp-like form,
so that the change required when the mouth passed away from them would
merely consist in the suppression of the gnathobase. The solid
palpless mandible such as we now see in some Arthropoda is,
necessarily, a late specialization. Moreover, it appears probable that
the first somite never had its parapodia modified as jaws, but became
a prosthomere with tactile appendages before parapodial jaws were
developed at all, or rather _pari passu_ with their development on the
second somite. It is worth while bearing in mind a second possibility
as to the history of the prosthomeres, viz. that the buccal
gnathobasic parapodia (the mandibles) were in each of the three grades
of prosthomerism only developed after the recession of the mouth and
the addition of one, of two, or of three post-oral somites to the
prae-oral region had taken place. In fact, we may imagine that the
characteristic adaptation of one or more pairs of post-oral parapodia
to the purposes of the mouth as jaws did not occur until after
ancestral forms with one, with two, and with three prosthomeres had
come into existence. On the whole the facts seem to be against this
supposition, though we need not suppose that the gnathobase was very
large or the rami undeveloped in the buccal parapodia which were
destined to lose their mandibular features and pass in front of the
mouth.
REFERENCES.--1. Bateson, _Materials for the Study of Variation_
(Macmillan, 1894), p. 85; 2. Lankester, "Primitive Cell-layers of the
Embryo." _Annals and Mag. Nat. Hist._ (1873), p. 336; 3. Korschelt and
Heider, _Entwickelungsgeschichte_ (Jena, 1892), cap. xv. p. 389; 4.
Folsom, "Development of the Mouth Parts of Anurida," _Bulletin Mus.
Comp. Zool. Harvard College_, vol. xxxvi. No. 5 (1900), pp. 142-146;
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