Insects (from Latin , a calque of Greek  [], "cut into sections") are a class of living creatures within the arthropods that have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body (head, thorax, and abdomen), three pairs of jointed legs, compound eyes, and two antennae. They are among the most diverse groups of animals on the planet, including more than a million described species and representing more than half of all known living organisms. The number of extant species is estimated at between six and ten million, and potentially represent over 90% of the differing metazoan life forms on Earth. Insects may be found in nearly all environments, although only a small number of species occur in the oceans, a habitat dominated by another arthropod group, the crustaceans.

Os são animais invertebrados da classe Insecta, o maior e, na superfície terrestre, mais largamente distribuído grupo de animais do filo Arthropoda.

Los insectos (Insecta, en latín, literalmente "cortado en medio") son una clase de animales invertebrados, del filo de los artrópodos, caracterizados por presentar un par de antenas, tres pares de patas y dos pares de alas (que, no obstante, pueden reducirse o faltar), La ciencia que estudia los insectos se denomina entomología.