What are the larvae of flies, cicadas, mosquitoes, butterflies, and dragonflies called?

In our daily lives, we often see five kinds of small flying animals: flies, cicadas, mosquitoes, butterflies, and dragonflies. The larval names of these five animals are all quite obscure, so what are these larvae called? According to sources, fly larvae are commonly known as maggots (qu, first tone), cicada larvae are called cicada monkeys, mosquito larvae are called jie (second tone) jue (second tone), butterfly larvae are called caterpillars, and dragonfly larvae live in water, with the scientific name shui chai (chài).

1. Maggots are the larvae of flies. They are mainly born in piles of human and livestock manure, garbage, and decaying matter, feeding on feces and rotting substances, and some live in decaying animal carcasses. They pupate below the soil surface and overwinter as pupae, with overwintering pupae reaching a depth of about 10 cm in the soil. They grow and reproduce extremely quickly, and artificial breeding requires no elaborate equipment; they can be raised indoors or outdoors, in cities or rural areas. Where conditions permit, high technology can be used to breed sterile maggots for comprehensive development; rural specialized households that cannot yet use high technology can skip raising breeding flies and directly attract flies from nature to lay eggs, directly breeding fresh maggots to solve the need for live bait for special breeding animals.

2. The cicada monkey is the larva (also called nymph) of the cicada when it faces molting. It is also called cicada turtle, yellowish-brown or pale red, and is good at climbing. The cicada larva comes out of the soil and climbs onto a tree to molt into a cicada; the process is like a monkey climbing a tree, hence the name cicada monkey. There are many varieties, and local common names differ slightly: in the Yellow River area of Shandong, some people call it immortal; in northern Shandong it is called shao xi niu; in southern Shandong it is called jie liu gui (the adult is called jie liu); in the Tai'an and Dongping area in the southwest it is called pa cha (locally, the verb meaning of pa cha is to climb), pa chan (pá chá), jie le gui (jiē le guī), and in Pingyin it is called jie liao gui (the adult is called jie liao, jié liáo); in Heze it is called pa cha hou, and in Juancheng it is called du lao gui (the adult is called du le); in Laixi, Qingdao it is called zhi liao gou. In Kaifeng, Henan it is called pa chan (pá chá), in Xuchang, Pingdingshan and other places it is called zhi liao gui, in Yantai, Shandong and other places it is called zhi liao hou, and in the Zhoukou area it is called pa zha. In Xuzhou, Jiangsu it is called die la hou.

3. Jie jue, the larvae of mosquitoes, are the intermediate stage as mosquitoes grow from eggs to pupae. They hatch from mosquito eggs in water, have slender bodies, and relative to the head or abdomen, the thorax is broader. When swimming, the body bends and stretches, commonly known as tumbler worms. Jie jue have slender, dark brown bodies and swim vertically up and down in water, feeding on bacteria and single-celled algae in the water and breathing air.

4. Caterpillars generally refer to the larvae of insects in the order Lepidoptera (moths and butterflies). They have 3 pairs of thoracic legs, and mostly 5 pairs of abdominal legs and anal legs. Some larvae have many poisonous bristles on their bodies, and if people touch them, the skin will become red and swollen.

The colors are beautiful, and the adult bodies, legs, and wings are covered with scales and hairs, so the 2 pairs of wings are scale wings, and the forewings are larger than the hindwings; the mouthparts are siphoning (in primitive small-winged moths the mandibles are well developed and chewing); antennae are varied, including filamentous, bipectinate, pectinate, and clavate; compound eyes are well developed, with 2 ocelli or none. Larvae are worm-like, with 3 pairs of thoracic legs and mostly 5 pairs of abdominal legs and anal legs. The larval body bears bristles, and the arrangement and naming of the bristles are called chaetotaxy, which is of great significance in classification. There are about 112,000 species, including moths and butterflies. Some can be used as fish bait or to feed fish, and they are often active on leaves, tree trunks, and other places, mostly in spring and summer.

5. Dragonfly larvae are called shui chai. They often inhabit sand grains, muddy water, or aquatic plants in water, feeding on small animals in the water, such as mayflies and mosquito larvae. Large species can also prey on tadpoles and small fish. After the mature nymph leaves the water, it climbs onto stones or plants and often emerges at night.