What is "hexapoda"

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

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.

The subphylum Hexapoda (from the Greek for six legs) constitutes the largest number of species of arthropods and includes the insects as well as three much smaller groups of wingless arthropods: Collembola, Protura, and Diplura (all of these were once considered insects). The Collembola (or springtails) are very abundant in terrestrial environments. Hexapods are named for their most distinctive feature: a consolidated thorax with three pairs of legs. Most other arthropods have more than three pairs of legs.