A larva (Latin; plural ''larvae'') is a juvenile form of animal with indirect development, undergoing metamorphosis (for example, insects or amphibians).

The larva can look completely different from the adult form, for example, a caterpillar differs from a butterfly. Larvae often have special (''larval'') organs which do not occur in the adult form. The larvae of some species can become pubescent and not further develop into the adult form (for example, in some newts). This is called neoteny.

It is a misunderstanding that the larval form always reflects the group's evolutionary history. It could be the case, but often the larval stage has evolved secondarily, as in insects. In these cases the larval form might differ more from the group's common origin than the adult form.

The early life stages of most fish species are considerably different from juveniles and adults of their species and are called ''larvae''.

Names of various kinds of larvae:

! Animal || Name of larvae |- |Hydrozoa || planula |- | Freshwater mussels || glochidium |- | Many crustaceans || nauplius |- | Decapoda || zoea |- | Butterflies and moths || caterpillar |- | Beetles || grub or Scarabaeoidea, triangulin |- | Flies || maggot |- | Mosquitos || wiggler |- | Bees || schadon |- | Fish (generally) || larva |- | Lamprey || ammocoete |- | Eels || leptocephalus |- | Amphibians || tadpole, polliwog |- | Certain Mollusca, annelids || trochophore |- | Dragonflies and Grasshoppers || nymph

Category:Developmental biology

ar:يرقة
bg:Ларва
ca:Larva
cs:Larva
da:Larve
de:Larve
es:Larva
eo:Larvo
fa:لارو
fr:Larve
gl:Larva
id:Larva
it:Larva
he:פגית
lt:Lerva
nl:Larve
ja:幼虫
no:Larve
pl:Larwa
pt:Larva
qu:Qirisa
ru:Личинка
simple:Larva
sk:Larva
sr:Ларва
sv:Larv
vi:Ấu trùng
tr:Larva
uk:Личинка
zh:幼虫