 A larva (Latin; plural larvae) is a distinct juvenile

form many animals undergo before metamorphosis

into adults. Animals with indirect developments such
as insects, amphibians or cnidarians specially have a
larval phase of their lifecycle Larva is Latin for
"ghost".

 Larvae are frequently adapted to environments

separate from adults. For example, some larvae
such as tadpoles live exclusively in aquatic
environments, but as adults can live outside
water as frogs. By living in distinct
environments, larvae may be given shelter from
predators and reduce competition for resources
with the adult population.
1. Protopod larva:- It shows ill-defined segmentation and has
rudimentary caphalic and thoracic appendages.
It occurs in some parasitic forms of insects.
It has is merely a precociously hatched embryo.
It feed on nutritive fluid of the host.

2. Apod larva:- Its is called maggot in housefly.

 Apod larva lacks legs.
 In mosquitoes, larva is free swimming and is called
wriggler.
 Body is elongated, cylindrical and is divisible into
head, thorax and abdomen.
 In culex larva, the abdoment is without palmate
hairs.
 It head may be well-developed, reduced or absent.
 An apod larva wit ha fully developed had is say be eucephalous
as in red wasp
 An apod larva with a reduced head is say to be hemicephalous as
in honeybee
 An apod larva with no head is called acephalous as in housefly

3. Oligopod larva:- It has true thoracic legs. It is further of two

kinds:
A. Scrabraiform larva:- it has cylindrical body with short thoracic
legs.
The terminal processes on abdomen are absent.
example in many beetles.
B. Compodiform larva:- It has long, depressed body with prominent
thoracic legs and also bear prominent terminal processes.
Example in may Neuropterans and coleopterans.
c. Elateriform larva:- it has an elongated, smooth,
cyclindrical,hardened body.
It is a root pest of many crops.
It occur in the click beetle.
D. Triongulin larva:- it has an elongated body with very
well developed legs, each bearing three claws.
Its found in the soil beetles
It’s a parasite in the nest of solitary bees or on the egg
masses of grasshopper.

4. Polypod larva:- It possesses stumpy, unjointed

prolegs on the abdomen in addition to true
segmented thoracic legs.
Mouth part are of chewing type
Antenna are short.
Its found in Lepidoptera and Hymenoptera.
They are also called eruciform and have 3 pair of
sclerotised, jointed legs and fleshy, abdominal ‘prolegs'.
Polypod larvae are usually caterpillars i.e. larvae of
butterflies or moths.
Most of caterpillar have cylindrical
bodies consisting of multiple
segments, with three pairs of true legs
on the thorax and several pairs of
short, fleshy prolegs on the abdomen.

The head has six small eyes

(stemmata) on each side that function
in light detection but not in image
formation

They generally eat leaves of various

types of plants, though some species
eat insect or other small animals.
The beetle larvae can be of
different shapes and sizes.

Some are wormlike and

legless, and other are more
like caterpillar, with thoracic
legs and abdominal prolegs.

Many larvae have C-shaped

bodies and are usually soft.

This form of larva, which is

present in scarabs and other
beetles, often is called a grub.
Healthy larvae are snowy
white and resemble small
grubs curled up in the cells.

Tiny at first the larvae

grow quickly, shedding their
skin five times.

The larvae are helpless

little creatures and have
voracious appetites,
consuming 1300 meals a
day.
The mosquito larva has a well
developed head with mouth
brushes used for feeding, a large
segmented abdomen.

Larvae breathe through

spiracles located on the eight
abdominal segment, or through a
siphon, and therefore must come
to the surface frequently.

The larvae spend most of their

time feeding on algae, bacteria,
and other microbes in the surface
micro layer.
 The integument of the house fly
larva consist of an outer acellular
cuticle and inner single layer of
epithelium which rest on a basement
membrane. The cuticle is covered
with an epicuticle and has are
stratified structure.

 The larva is white and cylindrical,

which the posterior end broad and
flattened. It tapers anteriorly.

 They are no eyes or appendages,

although they are some ventral spiny
ridges which aid locomotion.

The larvae have 13 segments, but

the first two are partially fused so
that only 12 segments are
appearance.