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Encyclopediaarachnidarachnid (urăk'nid) [key], mainly terrestrial arthropod of the class Arachnida, including the spider, scorpion, mite and tick, harvestman (daddy longlegs), and a few minor groups. The body is divided into a cephalothorax with six pairs of appendages, and an abdomen. The first two pairs of appendages are used to kill and crush prey (most arachnids being carnivorous); the remaining four pairs are walking legs. Arachnids have simple eyes and no antennae but are equipped with sensory bristles. Some respire with air tubes, but most possess primitive respiratory organs called book lungs. Arachnids are classified in the phylum Chelicerata, class Arachnida. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2007, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. More on arachnid from Infoplease:
- scorpion - scorpion scorpion, any arachnid of the order Scorpionida with a hollow poisonous stinger at the tip ...
- spider - spider spider, organism, mostly terrestrial, of the class Arachnida, order Araneae, with four pairs ...
- tarantula - tarantula tarantula , name applied chiefly to several species of the large, hairy spiders of the ...
- chigger - chigger chigger, minute, six-legged, reddish larva of the harvest mite, one of various red bugs ...
- harvestman - harvestman harvestman, arachnid, often called daddy longlegs because of its eight long, slender ...
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