insecta Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun insects; about five-sixths of all known animal species
    class Insecta; Hexapoda; class Hexapoda.

WordNet

In*sec"ta noun plural
Etymology
NL. See Insect.
Definitions
  1. (Zoöl.) One of the classes of Arthropoda, including those that have one pair of antennæ, three pairs of mouth organs, and breathe air by means of tracheæ, 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. (Zoöl.) In a more restricted sense, the Hexapoda alone. See Hexapoda.
  3. (Zoöl.) In the most general sense, the Hexapoda, Myriapoda, and Arachnoidea, combined. ✍ The typical Insecta, or hexapod insects, are divided into several orders, viz.: Hymenoptera, as the bees and ants; Diptera, as the common flies and gnats; 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 earwings; Thysanura, as the springtails, podura, and lepisma. See these words in the Vocabulary.

Webster 1913