Creature - Insect 3/1, 2B (3) Vanishing 3 (This permanent comes into play with three time counters on it. At the beginning of your upkeep, remove a time counter from it. When the last is removed, sacrifice it.) When Deadly Grub is put into a graveyard from play, if it had no time counters on it, put a 6/1 green Insect creature token into play with shroud. (It can't be the target of spells or abilities.)1
Illus. E. M. Gist
The ability checks if there are any time counters on it when it left play. It does not matter how it left play with no time counters on it. [Planar Chaos FAQ 2006/12/13]