Insecta

2 definitions found

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

  Insecta \In*sec"ta\, n. pl. [NL. See {Insect}.]
     1. (Zool.) One of the classes of Arthropoda, including those
        that have one pair of antenn[ae], three pairs of mouth
        organs, and breathe air by means of trache[ae], opening by
        spiracles along the sides of the body. In this sense it
        includes the Hexapoda, or six-legged insects and the


        Myriapoda, with numerous legs. See {Insect}, n.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. (Zool.) In a more restricted sense, the Hexapoda alone.
        See {Hexapoda}.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     3. (Zool.) In the most general sense, the Hexapoda,
        Myriapoda, and Arachnoidea, combined.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     Note: The typical Insecta, or hexapod insects, are divided
           into several orders, viz.: {Hymenoptera}, as the bees
           and ants; {Diptera}, as the common flies, gnats, and
           mosquitos; {Aphaniptera}, or fleas; {Lepidoptera}, or
           moths and butterflies; {Neuroptera}, as the ant-lions
           and hellgamite; {Coleoptera}, or beetles; {Hemiptera},
           as bugs, lice, aphids; {Orthoptera}, as grasshoppers
           and cockroaches; {Pseudoneuroptera}, as the dragon
           flies and termites; {Euplexoptera}, or earwigs;
           {Thysanura}, as the springtails, podura, and lepisma.
           See these words in the Vocabulary.
           [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

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