Arthropod segmentation and tagmosis

According to a well-consolidated tradition, the body of arthropods is described in terms of segments and tagmata. Even the oldest names for these animals, Aristotle's εντομα [entoma, internally (sub)divided] and Linnaeus' Latin equivalent Insecta, now restricted to one of the major arthropod subgroups, already referred to the modular organization of the body. In the idealistic perspective of the past, this trait, more than the presence of articulated appendages to which the current name of arthropods refers, was considered the defining attribute for the body plan of these animals.