In a complete life cycle, which stage is always present?

In a complete life cycle, which stage is always present?

• A. Egg
• B. Nymph
• C. Pupa
• D. Adult

Answer: (A)

A life cycle begins with an egg, since reproduction produces eggs that hatch into the next stages. In a complete metamorphosis, the sequence is egg, larva, pupa, adult, so the egg is always present as the starting point. A nymph appears only in incomplete metamorphosis, a pupa is specific to those four-stage cycles but not a universal starting point, and the adult comes later in the cycle rather than at the outset.