Times23457

[Aperio]

The female has youngsters in her form (4). The answer is "hare" - an anagram of "her" and "a". I cannot see where the "a" comes from.

[athene]

Form is the name for a hare's dwelling

[kettledrum]

a form is the name for a hare's bed.

[Quizmonster]

I opted for 'dame' on the basis that 'dame' is a word often used, especially in the USA, for a woman generally and for a titled one in Britain. A 'dame school' was one run by a solitary woman and such a school, of course, also had a 'form'!
As far as I can see, my answer is just as good as 'hare', as it fits all the elements in just the same way.

[Aperio]

I was thrown by the word "form" which I took to herald an anagram.

As QM notes, the clue is ambiguous as Dame is obviously an alternate answer.

Many thanks everyone. A