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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Hexapoda \Hex*ap"o*da\, noun 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.
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
Hexapoda
noun: insects; about five-sixths of all known animal species [syn: {Insecta}, {class Insecta}, {class Hexapoda}]
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