A new study from University of Alberta geneticists shows that our circadian rhythm has a much more important role than previously thought. It was well established that our internal clock regulates our eating and sleeping ...
Aug 19, 2016
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Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, or SSRI's, are popular drugs that treat depression by increasing the amount of a neurotransmitter called serotonin in the brain. But when a common SSRI known as sertraline is taken ...
May 15, 2020
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A team of doctors at University Hospital of Saint-Etienne in France recently found that the source of an itchy eye reported by a gardener who turned up at their emergency department was due to the presence of maggot larvae ...
If zebrafish larvae used the internet, they might soon be able to download a map of their entire brain. "We're not at that point yet," explains Michael Kunst from the Max Planck Institute of Neurobiology. "Nevertheless, our ...
Jul 1, 2019
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(Medical Xpress) -- For thousands of years, people have used maggots to clean out wounds, particularly in battlefield situations when there were few other options. Use of maggots (fly larvae) virtually disappeared in the ...
The intensity of brain activity during the day, notwithstanding how long we've been awake, appears to increase our need for sleep, according to a new UCL study in zebrafish.
Sep 16, 2019
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New information has come to light explaining how injured skin cells and touch-sensing nerve fibers coordinate their regeneration during wound healing. UCLA researchers Sandra Rieger and Alvaro Sagasti found that a chemical ...
May 24, 2011
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Hydrogen peroxide isn't just that bottled colorless liquid in the back of the medicine cabinet that's used occasionally for cleaning scraped knees and cut fingers.
Nov 21, 2011
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A study from the Buck Institute offers for the first time an explanation for the benefits of fasting at the neuronal level, providing a possible mechanism for how fasting can afford health benefits. Publishing on December ...
Dec 1, 2016
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In a proof-of-concept study, NC State University researchers show that genetically engineered green bottle fly (Lucilia sericata) larvae can produce and secrete a human growth factor - a molecule that helps promote cell growth ...
Mar 23, 2016
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A larva (Latin; plural larvae) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle. Larva is Latin for "ghost".
The larva's appearance is generally very different from the adult form (e.g. caterpillars and butterflies), and a larva often has unique structures and larval organs that do not occur in the adult form. A larva's diet can be considerably different from that of the adult form.
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.
Animals in the larval stage will consume food to fuel their transition into the adult form. Some species such as barnacles are immobile as adults, and use their mobile larvae form to distribute themselves.
The larvae of some species can become pubescent and not further develop into the adult form (for example, in some newts). This is a type of 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.
Names of various kinds of larvae:
This text uses material from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA
