Dictionary   FastHealth  Email This!

 


In·sec·ta

n pl :  a class of Arthropoda comprising segmented animals that as adults have a well-defined head bearing a single pair of antennae, three pairs of mouthparts, and usu. a pair of compound eyes, a 3-segmented thorax each segment of which bears a pair of legs ventrally with the second and third often bearing also a pair of wings, and an abdomen usu. of 7 to 10 visible segments without true jointed legs but often with the last segments modified or fitted with specialized extensions (as claspers, stingers, ovipositors), that breathe air usu. through a ramifying system of tracheae which open externally through spiracles or gills, that exhibit a variety of life cycles often involving complex metamorphosis, and that include the greater part of all living and extinct animals in*sec*tan adj 
 
 
 
Similar sounding terms:  in·sect 

 
Published under license with Merriam-Webster, Incorporated.  © 1997-2024.







               



               



Blue Mountain Hospital (John Day, Oregon - Grant County)