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DictionaryRoot: larva
Latin

larva

ghost; mask

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Close natural-history view of a newly hatched caterpillar emerging from its egg on a leaf, beside a fully emerged tiny caterpillar and an empty eggshell.
adjective

larval

LAR-vul/ˈlɑːrvl/

Relating to an animal's immature larva stage before adulthood.

Etymology
larvLatinghost; mask
+alLatinof, relating to

Latin larva meant both a ghost and a mask. Immature animals were called larvae because their unlike appearance was seen as masking the adult form, giving larval its zoological meaning.

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