The word arthropod comes from the Greek, meaning “jointed foot”. In addition to jointed legs, all arthropods are covered with a hard shell called an exoskeleton. Arthropods that are not insects include spiders, ticks, mites, centipedes, millipedes, lobsters, crayfish, shrimp and crabs.

Insects have segmented bodies, jointed legs, and external skeletons (exoskeletons).

A “jointed leg” means a leg with one or more points somewhere along its length where the leg is designed to flex—such as at the knee. The expression is used especially in reference to arthropods. Joint-legged animals without backbones are called arthropods and are placed in the phylum Arthropoda.

The coxa is the proximal segment and functional base of the leg. It articulates with the pleuron and associated sclerites of its thoracic segment, and in some species it articulates with the edge of the sternite as well.

A biramous limb, however, branches into two, and each branch consists of a series of segments attached end-to-end. The legs of insects and myriapods are uniramous.

The legs of insects are appendages consisting of three pairs, one for each thoracic segment. The forelegs are called also prothoracic, the midlegs mesothoracic, and the hindlegs metathoracic.

six legs

How Many Legs Does a Hissing Cockroach Have? Madagascar hissing cockroaches also have six legs (three pairs that are attached to their thorax).

Cockroaches are insects of the order Blattodea, which is derived from Latin for “an insect that shuns the light.” Like all insects, roaches have 6 legs. These legs come in pairs, and each pair is attached to a segment on the thorax. The front pair of legs are the shortest, while the hind legs are the longest.

If you squish a cockroach, it will die. Roaches do release a pheromone upon death, but it’s a warning, not an invitation. Roaches will avoid other dead roaches unless they’re starving. Stepping on roaches won’t release eggs.