larva, plural larvae, or larvas, stage in the development of many animals, occurring after birth or hatching and before the adult form is reached. These immature, active forms are structurally different from the adults and are adapted to a different environment.

What happens in the larva stage?

Caterpillar: The Feeding Stage

The next stage is the larva. This is also called a caterpillar if the insect is a butterfly or a moth. The job of the caterpillar is to eat and eat and eat. As the caterpillar grows it splits its skin and sheds it about 4 or 5 times.

What is the name of the larva stage?

In more primitive insects, such as cockroaches and grasshoppers, metamorphosis is gradual. The larva, often referred to as a nymph, has more or less the same organization as the adult, or imago; it feeds in a similar way but differs from the adults in lacking wings and in having incomplete sex organs.