Hexapoda

2 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Hexapoda \Hex*ap"o*da\, n. pl. [NL., fr. Gr. "e`x six + -poda.]
     (Zool.)
     The true, or six-legged, insects; insects other than
     myriapods and arachnids.
     [1913 Webster]
  


     Note: The Hexapoda have the head, thorax, and abdomen
           differentiated, and are mostly winged. They have three
           pairs of mouth organs, viz., mandibles, maxill[ae], and
           the second maxill[ae] or labial palpi; three pairs of
           thoracic legs; and abdominal legs, which are present
           only in some of the lowest forms, and in the larval
           state of some of the higher ones. Many (the Metabola)
           undergo a complete metamorphosis, having larv[ae]
           (known as maggots, grubs, caterpillars) very unlike the
           adult, and pass through a quiescent pupa state in which
           no food is taken; others (the Hemimetabola) have
           larv[ae] much like the adult, expert in lacking wings,
           and an active pupa, in which rudimentary wings appear.
           See {Insecta}. The Hexapoda are divided into several
           orders.
           [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  Hexapoda
       n : insects; about five-sixths of all known animal species [syn:
            {Insecta}, {class Insecta}, {class Hexapoda}]