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How many pairs of legs do insects usually have?

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A spiny lobster (Palinurus elephas) with long, striped antennae and spiny body stands on sandy ground near a rocky crevice underwater. — arthropod Spiny lobster, or rock lobster (*Palinurus elephas*).

Adult insects typically have three pairs of legs, which are attached to the three-segmented thorax. This characteristic number of legs helps distinguish them from other arthropods, such as arachnids, which have four pairs, or various crustaceans and myriapods that may have many more.123