Larva is the 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 adults and adapt to a different environment.
In some species the larva is free-living and the adult is a united or non-motor form; In others, the larva is aquatic and the adult lives on land. In forms with nonmotile adults, the mobile larva increases the geographical distribution of the species. Such larvae have well-developed locomotive structures. A larva sometimes functions as a food collector in many species, the larval stage occurs at a time when food is abundant and it has a well-developed food system. Store food so that transformation to adulthood can occur. Some larvae function both in dispersal and in nutrition.
The amount of time in the life cycle spent in the larval stage varies between species. A ome have long larval periods, either incubating early afternoon metamorphosis into adults, or both. Some organisms have a short-lived larval stage or no larvae at all.
The larvae appear in a variety of forms. Many invertebrates (for example, cnidarians) have a simple ciliated larva called a planula. Flukes have various larval stages and annelids, mollusks and crustaceans have various larval forms. The larval forms of the various insects are called caterpillars, larvae, worms, and nymphs. Echinoderms (for example, starfish) also have larval forms. The larva of the frog is called tadpole.
It is a distinct juvenile form that many animals experience before metamorphosis into adults. Indirectly developed animals such as insects, amphibians or cnidarians usually have a larval phase of their life cycle.
The appearance of the larva is very different from the adult form (eg caterpillars and butterflies). The larva often have unique structures and organs that do not occur in the adult form. Your diet can also be very different.
Larvae frequently adapt to environments separate from adults. For example, some larvae such as tadpoles live almost exclusively in aquatic environments, but can live outside of water as adult frogs. Living in a different environment, the larvae can receive shelter from predators and reduces competition for resources with the adult population.
