larva

noun4

1. •
   An early stage of growth for insects and some amphibians, in which after hatching from their egg, insects are wingless and resemble a caterpillar or grub, and amphibians lack limbs and resemble fish.

   • The habits of the second nymphal stage are likewise similar to those of the larva stage. — 1923
2. •
   (figurative) A preliminary stage of someone or something, before it has fully matured, especially a time of growth rather than one of performance.

   • The larva stage of the child's mind demands much forage material. — 1910
3. •
   An animal in the aforementioned stage.

   • The young larva bores into the tissue of a tobacco leaf, usually near the place where it has emerged from the egg, in cases where the egg was laid on a leaf, and mines into the leaf. — 1920
4. •
   A form of a recently born or hatched animal that is quite different from its adult stage.

   • In water of 5-6° C, herring hatch in about 22 days, at 11-12° C in 8–10 days. The newly hatched larva is about 6–8 mm long and at first depends on the food reserves of the yolk-sac. — 1968