larva
/ˈlɑːvə/ (bre, ipa) · /ˈlɑːrvə/ (ame, ipa) · /ˈlär-və/ (ame, mw)
larva — noun
- larvasingular
- larvaeplural
1. A young creature that has recently hatched from an egg and has a body shape very
A young creature that has recently hatched from an egg and has a body shape very different from its adult form, eventually changing into an adult through metamorphosis.
Emeka found a caterpillar, which is the larva of a butterfly, crawling on a leaf in his backyard.
caterpillar = butterfly larva; concrete example of a larval form
The science teacher showed the class how a mosquito larva wriggles through the water in a small jar.
mosquito larva + verb: wriggles
During spring, the pond behind Yuki's house filled with frog larvae that slowly grew legs and lost their tails.
These beetle larvae feed on dead wood and take nearly two years to turn into adult beetles.
Hana collected several butterfly larvae from the garden and watched each one form a chrysalis on a twig.
- caterpillar
Specifically the larva of butterflies and moths; furry or wormlike body.
- grub
Larva of beetles, usually thick and pale with a soft body; diet of wood or roots.
- maggot
Larva of flies; no legs, lives in decaying matter; has a negative connotation.
- nymph
Larva of certain insects (dragonflies, grasshoppers) that looks more like a small adult and does not enter a pupal stage.
- adult
The fully developed, mature form after metamorphosis.
文法句型
larva of [species]
in its larval stage
用法筆記
The plural form 'larvae' (pronounced /ˈlɑːrviː/) is far more common in scientific and academic writing than the regular plural 'larvas'. In everyday conversation, people often use a specific type name (caterpillar, maggot, tadpole) instead of the general term 'larva'.