Tuesday, February 2, 2010

What is the difference between exoskeleton and cuticle in arthropods?

Please dont just give definitions of them. I know both are the outer most body parts. Just want to know the difference between the two. Or they are the same? What is the difference between exoskeleton and cuticle in arthropods?
The cuticle is part of the exoskeleton in insects, but it isn't found in the exoskeleton of all arthropods.





In insects, the cuticle is a waxy coating over top of the chitin layer that makes up the main structural and protective parts of their exoskeleton. It acts mainly as a sealant - keeping moisture in the body in dry conditions, and keeping excess water out when it's raining. Kind of like a coat of paint on a car.





Arthropods like crustaceans (and even some primitive insects) don't have a cuticle, and so they are much more prone to drying out on land. This is one reason that insects are much more numerous on land than other arthropod groups.











What is the difference between exoskeleton and cuticle in arthropods?
cuticle is just the thickening over the epithelium of the arthropods


exoskeleton is chitinous plates over the body as in case of cockroaches. In cockroach the dorsal plates are called terga and the ventral ones are called sterna

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