Concept in Definition ABC

Larva is a proper term of the biology. Specifically, it indicates the intermediate stage in the metamorphosis of some animals, in such a way that the larva is between the egg stage and that of the adult individual. This process of transformation affects animals such as the frog, the butterfly, the fly or the moth.

The metamorphosis of the butterfly

Metamorphosis begins with the egg stage, in which the larvae feed on the protein that make up your egg. Thus, in a first stage the embryo The butterfly remains in this state until the larva eats the egg that protected it. Next, the larva takes the form of a worm and is known as a caterpillar and during this period the larva grows and feeds on it. time that its body is slowly transforming into a chrysalis and, therefore, it is already an insect fully formed. Finally, the individual emerges from the chrysalis and transforms into a butterfly.

The role of larvae in the history of biology

Biologists have always wondered what the origin of life is. East

approach is related to larvae, since for centuries biologists thought that larvae appeared by generation spontaneous.

The beginning The biological nature of spontaneous generation was in force until the 19th century and it was the French scientist Louis Pasteur who demonstrated that all living beings come from other beings, their ancestors.

The process of metamorphosis and the adjective larvae

The reference to the metamorphosis of a butterfly allows us to observe a phenomenon: the larva is hidden or masked and apparently nothing indicates that it is going to become a butterfly.

This peculiar biological phenomenon can be extrapolated to those situations in which something remains hidden, since at first glance it seems something different from what it really is.

When this happens we say that something is larvae. Therefore, the adjective larvae refers to what is not presented in an obvious and manifest way. Thus, a feeling of anger or discomfort may be larvae because it is somehow hidden so that others do not detect it. Likewise, that disease that does not present definite symptoms, it is said to be larvae, that is, camouflaged and semi-hidden.

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