Hypertext Webster Gateway: "Diptera"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Insecta \In*sec"ta\, n. pl. [NL. See {Insect}.]
1. (Zo["o]l.) One of the classes of Arthropoda, including
those that have one pair of antenn[ae], three pairs of
mouth organs, and breathe air by means of trache[ae],
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. (Zo["o]l.) In a more restricted sense, the Hexapoda alone.
See {Hexapoda}.
3. (Zo["o]l.) In the most general sense, the Hexapoda,
Myriapoda, and Arachnoidea, combined.
Note: 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.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Diptera \Dip"te*ra\, n. pl. [NL., fr. Gr. ? with two wings, di-
= di`s- twice + ? feather, wing: cf. F. dipt[`e]re.]
(Zo["o]l.)
An extensive order of insects having only two functional
wings and two balancers, as the house fly, mosquito, etc.
They have a suctorial proboscis, often including two pairs of
sharp organs (mandibles and maxill[ae]) with which they
pierce the skin of animals. They undergo a complete
metamorphosis, their larv[ae] (called maggots) being usually
without feet.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
Diptera
n : a large order of insects having a single pair of wings and
sucking or piercing mouths; includes true flies and
mosquitoes and gnats and crane flies [syn: {Diptera}, {order
Diptera}]
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