Provide support to an insect at a stage of lifecycle (11)
I believe the answer is:
caterpillar
'an insect at a stage of lifecycle' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this defines the answer.
'provide support' is the wordplay.
'provide' becomes 'cater' (synonyms).
'support' becomes 'pillar' (pillar is a kind of support).
'cater'+'pillar'='CATERPILLAR'
'to' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for caterpillar that I've seen before include "8 17" , "Heavy tracked earth-moving vehicle" , "future monarch, perhaps" , "Tiny creature" , "crawler" .)