Hexapoda

Hexapods Temporal range: 411–0 Ma[1] PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
A flesh-fly, Sarcophaga sp.
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Clade:	Pancrustacea
Subphylum:	Hexapoda Latreille, 1825[2]
Classes
Clade Elliplura Class Collembola (springtails) Order Protura (coneheads) Clade Cercophora Order Diplura (two-pronged bristletails) Class Insecta (insects)

The subphylum Hexapoda (from Greek for 'six legs') or hexapods comprises the largest clade of arthropods and includes most of the extant arthropod species. It includes the crown group class Insecta (true insects), as well as the much smaller class Entognatha, which includes three orders of wingless arthropods that were once considered insects: Collembola (springtails), Protura (coneheads) and Diplura (two-pronged bristletails).^[3][4] The insects and springtails are very abundant and are some of the most important pollinators, basal consumers, scavengers/detritivores and micropredators in terrestrial environments.

Hexapods are named for their most distinctive feature: a three-part body plan with a consolidated thorax and three pairs of legs. Most other arthropods have more than three pairs of legs.^[5] Most recent studies have recovered Hexapoda as a subgroup of Crustacea.^[6]