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The Collaborative International Dictionary
Insecta

Insecta \In*sec"ta\, n. pl. [NL. See Insect.]

  1. (Zo["o]l.) 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.

  2. (Zo["o]l.) In a more restricted sense, the Hexapoda alone. See Hexapoda.

  3. (Zo["o]l.) In the most general sense, the Hexapoda, Myriapoda, and Arachnoidea, combined.

    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.

WordNet

Usage examples of "insecta".

I hope our work on the Formicidae of Australasia will demonstrate is that the antibacterial struggle has also been waged by more complex species, including that most diverse class of species in the animal kingdom, the Insecta.

The class Insecta are free of neuroses, and I seldom get emotionally involved with their problems.

A keen student of humanity in the same way that an exterminator makes it his work to understand class Insecta, Dread had not failed to notice the change in her feelings about him.