Insect eggs come in all different shapes and sizes. They are laid in all sorts of places; some on plants, some in the soil and in the case of those insects that parasitise other insects, inside their prey. 

Lacewings will lay their eggs on any surface. 

Some insects lay their eggs in clusters and others will lay them singly.

Larvae are the young of insects.

Most larva are grub-like and look nothing like the adults, living in a different environment and having a different diet. Some larvae such as those of lacewings do not look like grubs, but they undergo complete metamorphosis.

The life cycle of these insects is from egg to larvae to pupa to adult. Many larvae pupate in the soil.
Often the larvae are voracious eaters; more so than the adults. They will grow and may change colour but still retain the same appearance.

The offspring of insects that do not go through complete metamorphosis, developing instead through a series of stages called “instars”, are referred to as nymphs.

The nymphs often resemble the adult without wings, although colour and shape may be slightly different; some are miniature versions and others are entirely different in early instars gradually developing adult characteristics with each new stage.

The gradual maturing into an adult involves the insect shedding its exoskeleton to accommodate its growing body. Depending on the species this may involve anything from 5 to 60 moults. Once the insect has reached the adult stage it does not grown any more.

The most obvious group having nymphal stages (incomplete metamorphosis) is the true bugs, but other species include thrips. silverfish, stick insects, termites, praying mantids, grasshoppers, damselflies, dragonflies, cockroaches and earwigs.