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Moulting is a complex process that is invariably dangerous for the arthropod involved. Before the old exoskeleton is shed, the cuticle separates from the epidermis through a process called apolysis. Early in the process of apolysis the epithelial cells release enzymatic moulting fluid between the old cuticle and the epidermis.
In preparation for ecdysis, the arthropod becomes inactive for a period of time, undergoing apolysis or separation of the old exoskeleton from the underlying epidermal cells. For most organisms, the resting period is a stage of preparation during which the secretion of fluid from the moulting glands of the epidermal layer and the loosening of ...
Insects, like all arthropods, have no interior skeleton; instead, they have an exoskeleton, a hard outer layer made mostly of chitin that protects and supports the body. . The insect body is divided into three parts: the head, thorax, and abdomen
Apolysis (Ancient Greek: ἀπόλυσις "discharge, lit. absolution") is the separation of the cuticle from the epidermis in arthropods and related groups . Since the cuticle of these animals is also the skeletal support of the body and is inelastic, it is shed during growth and a new covering of larger dimensions is formed.
The exoskeleton cannot stretch and thus restricts growth. Arthropods, therefore, replace their exoskeletons by undergoing ecdysis (moulting), or shedding the old exoskeleton, the exuviae, after growing a new one that is not yet hardened. Moulting cycles run nearly continuously until an arthropod reaches full size.
Imperial moth (Eacles imperialis) development from egg to pupa, showing all the different instarsAn instar (/ ˈ ɪ n s t ɑːr / ⓘ, from the Latin īnstar 'form, likeness') is a developmental stage of arthropods, such as insects, which occurs between each moult (ecdysis) until sexual maturity is reached. [1]
An exoskeleton (from Greek έξω éxō "outer" [1] and σκελετός skeletós "skeleton" [2] [3]) is a skeleton that is on the exterior of an animal in the form of hardened integument, which both supports the body's shape and protects the internal organs, in contrast to an internal endoskeleton (e.g. that of a human) which is enclosed ...
As an insect grows it needs to replace the rigid exoskeleton regularly. [2] [4] Moulting may occur up to three or four times or, in some insects, fifty times or more during its life. [2] A complex process controlled by hormones, it includes the cuticle of the body wall, the cuticular lining of the tracheae, foregut, hindgut and endoskeletal ...