Hexapoda
/ˌhɛksəˈpəʊdə
/plural noun Entomology
A class of six-legged arthropods that comprises the insects. The name is used as another term for Insecta, especially when the primitive apterygotes are not considered to be true insects.The superclass Hexapoda includes so-called true insects and several classes of primitive wingless proto-insects....
- These two clades, together with the true insects, form the clade Hexapoda.
- However, a rival theory - the Pancrustacea hypothesis - suggests that the Crustacea are the stock from which the Hexapoda arose.
Origin
Modern Latin (plural), from Greek hexapous, hexapod-, from hex 'six' + pous 'foot'.