The cuticle forms the major part of the integument of the Arthropoda. It includes most of the material of the exoskeleton of the insects, Crustacea, Arachnida, and Myriapoda. Morphology In arthropods, the integument, the external "skin", or "shell", is the product of a single layer of ectodermal epithelium. That layer is attached to the external or distal surface of the deepest layer, the non-cellular internal membrane of the integument. That non-cellular membrane is called the basement membrane. The layer of epithelium on the basement membrane produces the cuticle, which begins as a tough, flexible layer of chitin. Such thin, flexible chitin is the major structural part of the integument where flexibility is necessary, such as in bodily parts that must stretch to contain accumulated liquids, or that form joints between rigid parts of the exoskeleton. In other parts of the cuticle the function of the integument demands more rigid materials, such as armoured regions or the biting parts of the jaws, or where the exoskeleton forms the tubular limbs of most Arthropoda. To achieve such rigidity the outer chitin layer of the cuticle is impregnated, thickened, and reinforced with harder, more brittle materials such as sclerotised proteins or calcite. This main chitinous layer of the cuticle is called the procuticle. The procuticle in most land Arthropoda, particularly insects, is covered externally with a thin, waxy, water-resistant outer layer containing no chitin. That outer layer is the epicuticle, and it is much thinner than the procuticle. The chitinous procuticle is formed of an outer exocuticle and the inner endocuticle, and between the exocuticle and endocuticle there may be another layer called mesocuticle which has distinctive staining properties. The tough and flexible endocuticle is a laminated structure of layers of interwoven fibrous chitin and protein molecules, while the exocuticle is the layer in which any major thickening, armouring and biomineralization occurs. Biomineralization with calcite is particularly common in Crustacea, whereas sclerotization particularly occurs in insects. The exocuticle is greatly reduced in many soft-bodied insects, especially in the larval stages such as caterpillars and the larvae of parasitoidal Hymenoptera. Hardened plates in the exoskeleton are called sclerites. Sclerites may be simple protective armour, but also may form mechanical components of the exoskeleton, such as in the legs, joints, fins or wings. In the typical body segment of an insect or many other Arthropoda, there are four principal regions. The dorsal region is the