Pterygota (/ˌtɛrəˈɡoʊtə/ terrə-GOH-tə Ancient Greek: πτερυγωτός, romanized: pterugōtós, lit. 'winged') is a subclass of insects that includes all winged insects and groups which lost them secondarily.
Pterygota group comprises 99.9% of all insects. The orders not included are the Archaeognatha (jumping bristletails) and the Zygentoma (silverfishes and firebrats), two primitively wingless insect orders. Unlike Archaeognatha and Zygentoma, the pterygotes do not have styli or vesicles on their abdomen (also absent in some zygentomans), and with the exception of the majority of mayflies, are also missing the median terminal filament which is present in the ancestrally wingless insects.