larva

Meaning

Noun

• An early stage of growth for some insects and amphibians, in which after hatching from their egg, insects are wingless and resemble a caterpillar or grub, and amphibians lack limbs and resemble fish.
• An animal in the aforementioned stage.
• A form of a recently born or hatched animal that is quite different from its adult stage.

Origin

• From Latin larva ("ghost-like, masked").