Arthropods are defined as any invertebrate animal of the phylum Arthropoda (such as an insect, spider, or crustacean). Medically important arthropods may include ticks, mites, bedbugs, lice, kissing bugs, and others. This course will include manual identification methods using macroscopic and microscopic morphology of medically important arthropods.
Classification of Arthropods:
Class Insecta
Order Anoplura (sucking lice)
Order Siphonaptera (fleas)
Order Hemiptera (bedbugs, kissing bugs)
Order Hymenoptera (ants, wasps, bees)
Order Diptera (flies, mosquitoes, midges)
Class Arachnida
Subclass Scorpiones (scorpions)
Subclass Araneae (spiders)
Subclass Acari (ticks, mites, chiggers)
Class Diplopoda (millipedes)
Class Chilopoda (centipedes)
and others.
In this course, we will focus on the identification of medically important ticks, mites (scabies), bedbugs, lice, kissing bugs, and a few other arthropods, as well as the role of fly larvae in myiasis.
