Invertebrates
These are animals without a backbone or bony skeleton. This is the largest group in the animal kingdom; 97% of all animals on Earth are invertebrates living on land, in fresh water and the sea. It is a very varied group ranging from microscopic flies to enormous octopus. What invertebrates have you spotted in your garden?Some familiar examples of invertebrates include:-​
​
-
Arthropods are covered in a hard exoskeleton
-
Insects- have 6 legs, 3 parts to body, antennae, 2 pairs of wings (butterflies, moths, flies, dragonflies, beetles, bees, ants)
-
Arachnids- have 8 legs, 2 parts to body, many spin webs (spiders)
-
Crustaceans – have more than 8 legs and a segmented body (woodlice, crabs)
-
Myriapods – have very many legs and a segmented body (millipede, centipede)
-
-
echinoderms - have a star-like appearance with five-way symmetry and spiny skins
-
sea urchins
-
starfish
-
​​
-
molluscs – many of these have shells
-
snail and slug
-
squids
-
octopuses
-
-
annelid – these have a long, muscular, segmented body
-
earthworms
-
leeches
-
-
cnidarians - many of these have stinging cells
-
jellyfish
-
sea anemones
-
corals
-
-
porifera
-
sponges
-
Things to do:
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​