what is the meaning of larva?

Answer 1

Larva is adeveloping stage of most of the insects.

Answer 2

larva (Latin; plural larvae) is a juvenile form of animal with indirect development, undergoing metamorphosis (for example, insects or amphibians).

The larva can look completely different from the adult form, for example, a caterpillar differs from a butterfly. Larvae often have special (larval) organs which do not occur in the adult form. The larvae of some species can become pubescent and not further develop into the adult form (for example, in some newts). This is called neoteny.

It is a misunderstanding that the larval form always reflects the group's evolutionary history. It could be the case, but often the larval stage has evolved secondarily, as in insects. In these cases the larval form might differ more from the group's common origin than the adult form.

Names of various kinds of larvae:
Animal Name of larvae
Hydrozoan Planula
Fresh-water mussel Glochidium
Many crustaceans Nauplius
Decapoda Zoea
Butterfly, moth Caterpillar
Beetle Grub
Fly Maggot
Mosquito Wriggler
Bee Schadon
Lamprey Ammocoete
Eel Leptocephalus
Frog, toad Tadpole, polliwog

Answer 3

it is a stage of life for some insects

Answer 4

"get a dictionary"

Answer 5

A larva (Latin; plural larvae) is a juvenile form of animal with indirect development, undergoing metamorphosis (for example, insects or amphibians).

The larva can look completely different from the adult form, for example, a caterpillar differs from a butterfly. Larvae often have special (larval) organs which do not occur in the adult form. The larvae of some species can become pubescent and not further develop into the adult form (for example, in some newts). This is called neoteny.

It is a misunderstanding that the larval form always reflects the group's evolutionary history. It could be the case, but often the larval stage has evolved secondarily, as in insects. In these cases the larval form might differ more from the group's common origin than the adult form.

Names of various kinds of larvae
Main Entry: lar·va
Pronunciation: 'lär-v&
Function: noun
Inflected Form(s): plural lar·vae /-(")vE, -"vI /; also larvas
Etymology: New Latin, from Latin, specter, mask; akin to Latin lar Lar
1 : the immature, wingless, and often wormlike feeding form that hatches from the egg of many insects, alters chiefly in size while passing through several molts, and is finally transformed into a pupa or chrysalis from which the adult emerges
2 : the early form of an animal (as a frog or sea urchin) that at birth or hatching is fundamentally unlike its parent and must metamorphose before assuming the adult characters
- lar·val
Larva \Lar"va\, n.; pl. L. Larv[ae], E. Larvas. [L. larva ghost, specter, mask.]

1. (Zo["o]l.) Any young insect from the time that it hatches from the egg until it becomes a pupa, or chrysalis. During this time it usually molts several times, and may change its form or color each time. The larv[ae] of many insects are much like the adults in form and habits, but have no trace of wings, the rudimentary wings appearing only in the pupa stage. In other groups of insects the larv[ae] are totally unlike the parents in structure and habits, and are called caterpillars, grubs, maggots, etc.

2. (Zo["o]l.) The early, immature form of any animal when more or less of a metamorphosis takes place, before the assumption of the mature shape.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
larva, in zoology

ADVERTISEMENT

Emmys
Britney Spears
Uma Thurman
Mel Gibson
Vanessa Minnillo Brittany Snow




independent, immature animal that undergoes a profound change, or metamorphosis, to assume the typical adult form. Larvae occur in almost all of the animal phyla; because most are tiny or microscopic, they are rarely seen. They play diverse roles in the lives of animals. Motile larvae help to disseminate sessile, or sedentary, animals such as sponges, oysters, barnacles, or scale insects. Larvae of parasites may be dispersed by penetrating the skin of new hosts; other parasite larvae live in intermediate hosts that are normally eaten by the final host, in which the adult parasites develop. The larvae of other parasites live in and are dispersed by intermediate hosts such as mosquitoes, gnats, or leeches; when the blood meals are taken from the final host, the parasite larvae are introduced into the blood or skin. Parasitic infections can often be reduced by eliminating the larval hosts.

Vertebrate Larvae

Among vertebrates a number of fishes pass through larval stages; the larva of the eel is interesting because it is flat and transparent. The tadpole, the familiar larva of the amphibian, develops to a considerable size in the relatively hospitable aquatic environment before metamorphosis prepares it for an amphibious or terrestrial life as a frog or toad.

Insect Larvae

In some animals, especially insects, larvae represent a special feeding stage in the life cycle. Some insects pass through more or less wormlike larval stages, enter the outwardly inactive, or pupal, form, and emerge from the pupal case as adults (see pupa). The importance of larvae in the life cycle of insects varies greatly, as does the proportion of the life span spent in larval, pupal, and adult stages. In many insects, the adult life is relatively short, consisting mostly of mating and egg laying, while the larvae live for many months or, in some species, for several years. Insect larvae feed voraciously, necessarily becoming larger than the adult, as considerable energy and material are needed for the profound changes made during pupation. For this reason, insect larvae often cause far more damage to stored crops and textiles than adult insects.

Insect larvae generally have a thinner exoskeleton than the adult; many are white and soft. The characteristic fly larvae are maggots, often developing in decaying plant or animal material. Mosquito larvae are the familiar aquatic wrigglers; they breathe air and are killed by a thin film of oil on the water that prevents contact with air. Maggots and wrigglers are legless, as are all larvae of the insect order Diptera. Beetle larvae, including the whitish forms called grubs and the long brownish wireworms, are quite diverse, but all are equipped with the six legs characteristic of adults. Moths and butterflies have wormlike caterpillars as larvae, each equipped with the six legs characteristic of adults and false legs known as prolegs to support the long abdominal section. Some, like the milkweed worm (the larva of the monarch butterfly), are relatively naked, while other caterpillars are covered by hairy bristles, sometimes equipped with irritating chemicals that can cause intense itching. The young of the social insects (bees, ants, wasps, and termites) are legless but otherwise grublike. Although all social-insect larvae are ultimately dependent on the parent colony for food, they are considered true larvae because they pass through a pupal stage.

Cutaneous larva migrans ("CLM") is a skin disease in humans, caused by a parasitic larvae called Ancylostoma braziliense (among other hookworms).

Sometimes referred to as "creeping eruption" or "ground itch", in some parts of the Southern USA this condition is also referred to as "sandworms."

Contents [hide]
1 Cause
2 Presentation
3 Treatment
4 See also



[edit]
Cause
These parasites are found in dog and cat feces and although they are able to infect the deeper tissues of these animals (through to the lungs and then the intestinal tract), in humans they are only able to penetrate the outer layers of the skin and thus create the typical wormlike burrows visible underneath the skin. The parasites apparently lack the collagenase enzymes required to penetrate through the basement membrane deeper into the skin.

[edit]
Presentation
The infection causes a red, intense itching eruption. The eruption can be painful and if scratched may allow secondary bacterial infection.

[edit]
Treatment
CLM can be treated a number of different ways:

Systemic (oral) agents include albendazole (trade name Albenza) and ivermectin (trade name Stromectol).
Another agent which can be applied either topically or taken by mouth is thiabendazole (trade name Mintezol).
Topical freezing agents, such as ethyl chloride or liquid nitrogen, applied locally can freeze and kill the larvae (but is often a hit-or-miss proposition).

Larva : (LAR-va) One of the phases in the life cycle of some insects, such as sphecid wasps and tachinid flies. See insect life cycle. Larva is the singular form of the word, and larvae (LAR-vee) is the plural form. (Newspaper reporters commonly, but wrongly, write about "a larvae"). Many insect larvae are very different in appearance from the adults. Insect larvae do not have wings. Insect larvae feed, and grow, and molt several times
Larva

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Any young insect from the time that it hatches from the egg until it becomes a pupa, or chrysalis. During this time it usually molts several times, and may change its form or color each time. The larvae of many insects are much like the adults in form and habits, but have no trace of wings, the rudimentary wings appearing only in the pupa stage. In other groups of insects the larvae are totally unlike the parents in structure and habits, and are called caterpillars, grubs, maggots, etc.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The early, immature form of any animal when more or less of a metamorphosis takes place, before the assumption of the mature shape.


Related Word Definitions:
And, Animal, Any, Appearing, Are, Assumption, Before, But, Called, Change, Chrysalis, Color, During, Each, Early, Egg, Form, From, Have, Immature, In, Insect, It, Larvae, Less, Like, Many, Mature, May, Metamorphosis, More, Much, No, Of, Only, Or, Other, Place, Pupa, Rudimentary, Several, Shape, Stage, Structure, That, The, This, Time, Times, Totally, Trace, Unlike, Until, When, Young