Minibeasts

Mini Beasts

Mini-beasts are the insects and bugs that live around us.

Arachnids

Arachnids1

are named after the Greek arachne, 1

meaning spider.

Arachnids have:

- two main body parts:

The cephalothoraxand

The abdomen

Arachnids have:- 8 eyes

Arachnids have:

- silk spinning organs called spinneretes

Arachnids have:

- no antennae and - no wings

Instead Arachnids have:

- Mouth parts called chelicerae which in spiders are fangs

Arachnids have:4

- eight walking legs

Locomotion:

Arachnids move using muscles attached to the inside of the exoskeleton to flex

their limbs.

Most arachnids, keep at least four legs on the surface while walking or running.

However spiders use hydraulic pressure to extend their legs.

Some spiders can jump 50 times their own height.

Because of this hydraulic pressure the legs of dead spiders curl up.

Common Arachnids include:

Scorpions

Ticks

Mites

Spiders

Spiders are ancient animals with a history going back many millions of years.

They have always been with us, an ancient source of fear and fascination.

They are abundant and widespread and are

natural controllers of insect populations.

Wherever you live, you're always close to a spider!

Insects

The first insects probably appeared

400 - 360 million years ago!!

Insects play an essential role in the web of life.

They are an amazingly diverse group of animals that have conquered

almost every environment on earth.

Insects comprise 75% of all animal species that scientists have named and described, and most of these

insects have wings.

The key to insect success is their ability to survive on land and take to

the air.

Insects perform jobs that help humans.

Some of their jobs include pollinating flowering plants,

being a source of food for other animals

and assisting in the decomposition of

plants and animals.

Insects have:

- Three main body parts: head, thorax, abdomen

Insects have:

- Six legs attached to the thorax (which has 3 segments)

Insects have:

- Some adult insects have one or two pairs of wings attached to the thorax

Insects have:

- Two antennae

Insects have:4

- Lateral compound eyes.

Compound eyes are different from human eyes which have a single lens for each eye.

Compound eyes have many lenses for each eye. For example, the fly has about 4,000 lenses in a single eye.

This provides them with very good eyesight.

Locomotion:4

Insects move through muscles attached to the inside of the skeleton.

Common insects include:

Grasshoppers

Butterflies

Beetles

Ants

Insects are the only Mini-beast that have learned how to fly!

They did this about 285 – 245 MILLION years ago.

Molluscs

Mollusc means 'soft-bodied’.

All molluscs have soft bodies on the inside, although some have developed a tough shell.

Molluscs live almost everywhere - on the rocky shore, in freshwater habitats and in your garden.

Mollusc have:

- an unsegmented, soft body

Molluscs have:

- a muscular foot or tentacles

Molluscs have:

- a mantle that can secrete a shell

Most, but not all, molluscs have:

- an internal or external shell

Most, but not all, molluscs have:

- a radula (tongue with teeth)

Locomotion:

Mollusc move through extending and contracting their muscular

“foot”

Common molluscs are:

Snails

Mussels

Oysters

Octopus

A snail can sleep for three years!!

Centipedes and Millipedes

Centipedes and Millipedes are myriapods, meaning: 'many pairs of

legs'.

They have:- a segmented body,

They have:

- one pair of antennae

They have:

- breathing holes called spiracles.

Locomotion:

As Myriapods or centipedes and millipedes move, its legs all move

in order down its body.

This makes it look like a 'wave' of movement that seems to travel

from one end to the other.

The walking legs stretch out sideways and prevent the

Myriapod falling over when it runs.

Centipedes have one pair of legs per body segment.

Millipedes have two pairs of legs per

body segment

Centipedes have the first pair of legs behind the head modified into a pair of

fangs containing a poison gland.

Millipedes do not.

Centipedes are carnivores;

Millipedes are herbivores or detritivores (feed on decaying

vegetation).

Giant Centipede

Many centipedes guard their eggs and young by curling around them,

while millipedes protect their eggs from predators in a nest of hard soil.

Millipede

Centipede

Crustaceans

Crustaceans are among the most widespread and

diverse group of invertebrates.

Balmain bug

All crustaceans have:- a body divided into a head, thorax

and abdomen- two eyes

- two pairs of antennae- a hard exoskeleton- jointed, paired legs

(some crustaceans have up to 17 pairs of legs).

Black Yabbie

Locomotion:

Crustaceans that live in the water have paddles on their back legs. This

is what makes them able to swim.

Crustaceans don’t usually move straight forward when on land.

They use walking legs which are on the backside of their body.

This makes crustaceans walk either right or left instead of forward.

One side of the back legs helps pull the crab, and the others stretch out

and push.

Hermit crab

The most common types of crustaceans are:

CrabsShrimps Lobsters

Barnacles,

Blue swimmer crab

Although originally aquatic, many crustaceans, such as slaters and

beachhoppers, are adapted to life on land.

Red Rock Crab

Aboriginal People of coastal Sydney collected and ate many different

types of shellfish and crustaceans.

In Botany Bay when Captain Cook first landed in Australia he saw the

Aborigines collecting shellfish.

Annelids

Annelids are invertebrates.

This means they do not have a back bone.

They are soft and squishy.They are long.

They have no legs.

Annelids have:

- Long cylindrical shaped bodies made up of many similar segments

- No antennae - No obvious head end

Common annelids include:

WormsLeeches

and some marine worms

Worms play an important part in all the ecosystems of the world.

Several other worms may be free-living, or nonparasitic.

Some worms living in the ground help to

condition the soil while others thrive as parasites

of plants and animals, including humans.

Locomotion:

Annelids move by using muscles to shorten and extend their body.