larva
[lahr-vuh]
- Entomology. the immature, wingless, feeding stage of an insect that undergoes complete metamorphosis.
- any animal in an analogous immature form.
- the young of any invertebrate animal.
- larvae, Roman Antiquity. malignant ghosts, as lemures.
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Origin of larva
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for larvae
Contemporary Examples
Jellyfish eat the eggs and larvae of other species higher on the food chain, as well as the plankton that those larvae would eat.
The sago palm weevil, a type of beetle, is eaten, roasted or raw, as a larvae in Southeast Asia.
The larvae produce parasitic worms that can enter the human body and take up residence for as long as 14 years.
Historical Examples
Corpus adiposum: the mass of fat tissue often found in larvae.
Explanation of Terms Used in EntomologyJohn. B. Smith
Homomorpha: insects in which the larvae resemble the adults.
Explanation of Terms Used in EntomologyJohn. B. Smith
Limaciform: having the form of a Limax or slug; said of larvae.
Explanation of Terms Used in EntomologyJohn. B. Smith
Scutes: the chitinous shields or plates on the segments of larvae.
Explanation of Terms Used in EntomologyJohn. B. Smith
Tentacular -um: retractile processes on the larvae of Lepidoptera.
Explanation of Terms Used in EntomologyJohn. B. Smith
larva
- an immature free-living form of many animals that develops into a different adult form by metamorphosis
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Word Origin
C18: (C17 in the original Latin sense: ghost): New Latin
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for larvae
n.
plural of larva (q.v.).
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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."
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
larva
(lär′və)- The newly hatched, wingless, often wormlike form of many insects before metamorphosis.
- The newly hatched, earliest stage of any of various animals that undergo metamorphosis, differing markedly in form and appearance from the adult.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
larva
[lär′və]
- 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.
- 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.
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The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.