The Exopterygota (Ancient Greek ἔξω (éxō, “outside”) + πτερόν (pterón, “wing”) + Neo-Latin -ota (“having”)), also known as Hemimetabola, are a superorder of insects of the subclass Pterygota in the infraclass Neoptera, in which the young resemble adults but have externally developing wings.

[1] The Exopterygota are a highly diverse insect superorder, with at least 130,000 living species divided between 15 orders.

Ephemeroptera (mayflies) and Odonata (dragonflies and damselflies) also have gradual wing development, this being a plesiomorphic trait.

As opposed to Neoptera, they cannot fold their wings over their back in the horizontal plane, only vertically (as damselflies do) if at all.

It is realized that some presumed Exopterygota may in fact be basal neopterans, making the superorder paraphyletic.