LARVA

(Lat. larva, a mask.) A Metabolian insect in its first stage after exclusion from the egg is so called, because its real form is, as it were, masked: the same term is also applied to those reptiles which undergo a metamorphosis, as the frog, when at a corresponding period of existence. Larva. Spectres of the deceased were 60 termed by the Romans: mere empty forms or phantoms, as their name in dicates; yet endowed with a sort of existence resembling life, since they were to be propitiated by libation and sacrifice. The larva of Caligula, according to Suet on i us, was often seen in his palace after his decease. The larva; are described by Seneca, and often represented In paintings and on gems under tile figure of a skeleton; sometimes under those of old men, with shorn locks and long beards, carrying ar owl on their hands. [s. 657]