Larvae

Larvae

A larva (plural: larvae or larvas) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle.

The larva's appearance is generally very different from the adult form (e.g., caterpillars and butterflies) including different unique structures and organs that do not occur in the adult form. Their diet may also be considerably different.

Larvae are frequently adapted to environments separate from adults. For example, some larvae such as tadpoles live almost exclusively in aquatic environments, but can live outside water as adult frogs. By decoupling the environments of different life stages, species are able to exploit resources in ways that would otherwise be unavailable.

Etymology and development

The term "larva" is derived from the Latin word larva, meaning "mask" or "ghost". It was used in biology for the first time in 1768 by Carl Linnaeus from Sweden in his work Systema Naturae.

Types of larvae

There are several different kinds of larvae, distinguished by their modes of locomotion.

• Zooplankton are small protozoans or metazoans (e.g. crustaceans and other animals) that feed on other plankton and also on larger particles, detritus, and even other smaller zooplankton.
• Decapod larvae are the early stages of crustaceans such as shrimp, crabs, and lobsters.
• Ichthyoplankton are the eggs and larvae of fish. They are usually found in the sunlit zone of the water column, less than 200 meters deep, which is sometimes called the epipelagic or photic zone.

See also

• Metamorphosis
• Pupa
• Nymph (biology)

References

Larvae Resources
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