Royal wearing hot stuff — future monarch? (5)
I believe the answer is:
larva
'future monarch?' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both animals as well as being singular nouns.
Maybe you can see a link between them that I can't see?
'royal wearing hot stuff' is the wordplay.
'royal' becomes 'r' (abbreviation).
'wearing' indicates putting letters inside.
'hot stuff' becomes 'lava'.
'r' going inside 'lava' is 'LARVA'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for larva that I've seen before include "Manage" , "Insect's immature form" , "Grub; insect" , "Caterpillar, for example" , "a developmental stage" .)