Immature future monarch? (5)
I believe the answer is:
larva
'immature future monarch?' is the definition.
The answer and definition can be both animals as well as being singular nouns.
Maybe you can see an association between them that I can't see?
'monarch?' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'monarch?' could be 'r' (r is abbreviation for rex) and 'r' is present in the answer.
The remaining letters 'lava' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for larva that I've seen before include "nit?" , "Grub, caterpillar stage" , "Maggots" , "immature six-footer?" , "Insect just out of egg" .)