larva

[lahr-vuh] /ˈlɑr və/
noun, plural larvae
[lahr-vee] /ˈlɑr vi/ (Show IPA)
1.
Entomology. the immature, wingless, feeding stage of an insect that undergoes complete metamorphosis.
2.
any animal in an analogous immature form.
3.
the young of any invertebrate animal.
4.
larvae, Roman Antiquity. malignant ghosts, as lemures.
Origin
1645-55; < Neo-Latin; special use of Latin larva a ghost, specter, mask, skeleton; akin to Lares
Can be confused
larva, lava.
Examples from the web for larva
  • The mature larva forms a pupa and transforms into the adult insect which is a gray to brown colored moth with a one inch wingspan.
  • The larva pierces the spider's tough skin and sucks its blood for sustenance.
  • The larva of this nasty little bug burrows into an olive and eats it from within.
  • When it finds suitable cues, this larva will settle to the bottom, and metamorphose into a polyp with a central mouth.
  • Parasitic fly larva emerging from a dead bee's neck.
  • Amphibians are lured by a flesh-eating ground beetle larva to their doom.
  • Afterward the larva spins a cocoon and falls into a ten-month slumber, waiting for spring.
  • The egg grows and the resulting larva generally migrates to the ant's head.
  • It starts out as a swimming larva, with a rodlike stiffener in its tail.
  • Harvesters pluck the package-caterpillar larva and parasitic fungus-whole from the ground.
British Dictionary definitions for larva

larva

/ˈlɑːvə/
noun (pl) -vae (-viː)
1.
an immature free-living form of many animals that develops into a different adult form by metamorphosis
Derived Forms
larval, adjective
Word Origin
C18: (C17 in the original Latin sense: ghost): New Latin
Word Origin and History for larva
n.

1650s, "a ghost, specter," from Latin larva (plural larvae), earlier larua "ghost," also "mask;" applied in biological sense 1768 by Linnaeus because immature forms of insects "mask" the adult forms. On the double sense of the Latin word, Carlo Ginzburg, among other students of mythology and folklore, has commented on "the well-nigh universal association between masks and the spirits of the dead."

larva in Medicine

larva lar·va (lär'və)
n. pl. lar·vas or lar·vae (-vē)

  1. The newly hatched, wingless, often wormlike form of many insects before metamorphosis.

  2. The newly hatched, earliest stage of any of various animals that undergo metamorphosis, differing markedly in form and appearance from the adult.

lar'val adj.
larva in Science
larva
(lär'və)
Plural larvae (lär'vē) or larvas

  1. An animal in an early stage of development that differs greatly in appearance from its adult stage. Larvae are adapted to a different environment and way of life from those of adults and go through a process of metamorphosis in changing to adults. Tadpoles are the larvae of frogs and toads.

  2. The immature, wingless, and usually wormlike feeding form of those insects that undergo three stages of metamorphosis, such as butterflies, moths, and beetles. Insect larvae hatch from eggs, later turn into pupae, and finally turn into adults. Compare imago, nymph, pupa.