ETYM Latin larva ghost, specter, mask.
The immature free-living form of most invertebrates and amphibians and fish which at hatching from the egg is fundamentally unlike its parent and must metamorphose.
Form of insect after hatching from egg and before pupation; earliest form of animal's young.
Stage between hatching and adulthood in those species in which the young have a different appearance and way of life from the adults. Examples include tadpoles (frogs) and caterpillars (butterflies and moths). Larvae are typical of the invertebrates, some of which (for example, shrimps) have two or more distinct larval stages. Among vertebrates, it is only the amphibians and some fishes that have a larval stage.
The process whereby the larva changes into another stage, such as a pupa (chrysalis) or adult, is known as metamorphosis. + prikaži više

ETYM W. macai, pl. maceiod, magiod, a worn or grub; cf. magu to bread.
The larva of the housefly and blowfly commonly found in decaying organic matter.
Soft, plump, limbless larva of flies, a typical example being the larva of the blowfly which is deposited as an egg on flesh.

Hidden.