1. TYPES OF LARVAE OF INSECTS

2. What is a larva??
A larva (Latin; plural larvae) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect developments such as insects, amphibians or cnidarians specially have a larval phase of their lifecycle Larva is Latin for "ghost".
Larvae are frequently adapted to environments separate from adults. For example, some larvae such as tadpoles live exclusively in aquatic environments, but as adults can live outside water as frogs. By living in distinct environments, larvae may be given shelter from predators and reduce competition for resources with the adult population.

3. Types of larvae
1. Protopod larva:- It shows ill-defined segmentation and has rudimentary caphalic and thoracic appendages.
It occurs in some parasitic forms of insects.
It has is merely a precociously hatched embryo.
It feed on nutritive fluid of the host.
2. Apod larva:- Its is called maggot in housefly.
Apod larva lacks legs.
In mosquitoes, larva is free swimming and is called wriggler.
Body is elongated, cylindrical and is divisible into head, thorax and abdomen.
In culex larva, the abdoment is without palmate hairs.

4. It head may be well-developed, reduced or absent.
An apod larva wit ha fully developed had is say be eucephalous as in red wasp
An apod larva with a reduced head is say to be hemicephalous as in honeybee
An apod larva with no head is called acephalous as in housefly
3. Oligopod larva:- It has true thoracic legs. It is further of two kinds:
A. Scrabraiform larva:- it has cylindrical body with short thoracic legs.
The terminal processes on abdomen are absent.
example in many beetles.
B. Compodiform larva:- It has long, depressed body with prominent thoracic legs and also bear prominent terminal processes.
Example in may Neuropterans and coleopterans.
c. Elateriform larva:- it has an elongated, smooth, cyclindrical,hardened body.

5. It is a root pest of many crops. It occur in the click beetle. D
It is a root pest of many crops. It occur in the click beetle. D. Triongulin larva:- it has an elongated body with very well developed legs, each bearing three claws. Its found in the soil beetles It’s a parasite in the nest of solitary bees or on the egg masses of grasshopper. 4. Polypod larva:- It possesses stumpy, unjointed prolegs on the abdomen in addition to true segmented thoracic legs. Mouth part are of chewing type Antenna are short. Its found in Lepidoptera and Hymenoptera.

6. Polypod larva
They are also called eruciform and have 3 pair of sclerotised, jointed legs and fleshy, abdominal ‘prolegs'. Polypod larvae are usually caterpillars i.e. larvae of butterflies or moths.

7. Larva of lepidoptera
Most of caterpillar have cylindrical bodies consisting of multiple segments, with three pairs of true legs on the thorax and several pairs of short, fleshy prolegs on the abdomen.
The head has six small eyes (stemmata) on each side that function in light detection but not in image formation
They generally eat leaves of various types of plants, though some species eat insect or other small animals.

8. Larva of Beetle
The beetle larvae can be of different shapes and sizes.
Some are wormlike and legless, and other are more like caterpillar, with thoracic legs and abdominal prolegs.
Many larvae have C-shaped bodies and are usually soft.
This form of larva, which is present in scarabs and other beetles, often is called a grub.

9. Larva of honeybee
Healthy larvae are snowy white and resemble small grubs curled up in the cells.
Tiny at first the larvae grow quickly, shedding their skin five times.
The larvae are helpless little creatures and have voracious appetites, consuming 1300 meals a day.

10. Larvae of mosquito
The mosquito larva has a well developed head with mouth brushes used for feeding, a large segmented abdomen.
Larvae breathe through spiracles located on the eight abdominal segment, or through a siphon, and therefore must come to the surface frequently.
The larvae spend most of their time feeding on algae, bacteria, and other microbes in the surface micro layer.

11. Larvae of housefly
The integument of the house fly larva consist of an outer acellular cuticle and inner single layer of epithelium which rest on a basement membrane. The cuticle is covered with an epicuticle and has are stratified structure.
The larva is white and cylindrical, which the posterior end broad and flattened. It tapers anteriorly.
They are no eyes or appendages, although they are some ventral spiny ridges which aid locomotion.
The larvae have 13 segments, but the first two are partially fused so that only 12 segments are appearance.

12. Thank you