jointed limbs, which usually consist of five main parts: coxa, trochanter, femur, tibia, and tarsus

According to the way of life, the legs are differently adapted - they are walking, running, jumping, grasping, catching, grabbing, digging, swimming, adapted for moving on the water surface, for collecting pollen or even for cleaning the body. The shape of the legs corresponds to their function.

Insect have three pairs of legs, one pair on each of the three segments of the thorax and are generally called the fore-, mid-, and hind legs. Any of the pairs of legs may be heavily modified and are important for locomotion, prey capture, mating, etc. Thankfully, just like mouthparts, all insect legs contain the same basic parts. From proximal (toward or against the body) to distal (away from the body) the parts of an insect leg are: coxa, trochanter, femur, tibia, and tarsus. The tarsus almost always has one or two claws at the type used to grasp the substrate.