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Larvesta "flying" using the fire that spits out from its horns
Larvesta is a fuzzy, moth larva-like Pokémon. It has blue eyes in a shadowed face. Its white mane of fuzz encompasses its head and the upper half of its body, while its lower half is brown. It has three pairs of small black legs. There are five red, slightly whorled horns on the sides of its head, which it can use to spit fire as a defensive tactic to intimidate predators or to scare prey. It has been seen using fire it spits from these horns to fly. Larvesta's flames can reach up to 5,500 degrees Fahrenheit in temperature. It lives at the feet of volcanoes, though people of ancient times once believed that Larvesta nested on and fell from the sun.
Larvesta may be based on a moth — likely an Atlas moth larva or a Sycamore Tussock moth larva — and the Tower of the Sun, a famed Japanese monument. The way its red growths are shaped and positioned on its circular body may be a reference to the sun or to the Daimonji. It may also be based on a torch or cigarette.
Name origin
Larvesta may be a combination of larva and Vesta (Roman goddess of the hearth and home, symbolised and represented by an eternally-burning fire located in her temple). It may also involve lava.
Merlarva may be a combination of めらめら meramera (onomatopoeia for flaring) and larva.
This Pokémon article is part of Project Pokédex, a Bulbapedia project that aims to write comprehensive articles on each Pokémon species, as well as Pokémon groups and forms.