Shedding of the exoskeleton in arthropods and other invertebrates
For other uses, see Ecdysis (disambiguation).
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Adult Rhopalomyia solidaginis fly, emerging from pupal caseProcess of ecdysis of a cicada.
Ecdysis is the moulting of the cuticle in many invertebrates of the clade Ecdysozoa. Since the cuticle of these animals typically forms a largely inelastic exoskeleton, it is shed during growth and a new, larger covering is formed.[1] The remnants of the old, empty exoskeleton are called exuviae.[2]
After moulting, an arthropod is described as teneral, a callow; it is "fresh", pale and soft-bodied. Within one or two hours, the cuticle hardens and darkens following a tanning process analogous to the production of leather.[3] During this short phase the animal expands, since growth is otherwise constrained by the rigidity of the exoskeleton. Growth of the limbs and other parts normally covered by the hard exoskeleton is achieved by transfer of body fluids from soft parts before the new skin hardens. A spider with a small abdomen may be undernourished but more probably has recently undergone ecdysis. Some arthropods, especially large insects with tracheal respiration, expand their new exoskeleton by swallowing or otherwise taking in air. The maturation of the structure and colouration of the new exoskeleton might take days or weeks in a long-lived insect; this can make it difficult to identify an individual if it has recently undergone ecdysis.
Ecdysis allows damaged tissue and missing limbs to be regenerated or substantially re-formed. Complete regeneration may require a series of moults, the stump becoming a little larger with each moult until the limb is a normal, or near normal, size.[4]
^O. Erik Tetlie, Danita S. Brandt & Derek E. G. Briggs (2008). "Ecdysis in sea scorpions (Chelicerata: Eurypterida)". Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. 265 (3–4): 182–194. Bibcode:2008PPP...265..182T. doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2008.05.008.
^Russell Jurenka (2007). "Insect physiology". In Sybil P. Parker (ed.). McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science & Technology. Vol. 9 (10th ed.). p. 323. ISBN 978-0-07-144143-8.
^Penny M. Hopkins (2001). "Limb regeneration in the fiddler crab, Uca pugilator: hormonal and growth factor control". American Zoologist. 41 (3): 389–398. doi:10.1093/icb/41.3.389.
it difficult to identify an individual if it has recently undergone ecdysis. Ecdysis allows damaged tissue and missing limbs to be regenerated or substantially...
final ecdysis of the immature instars. In a member of the Ametabola or Hemimetabola, in which metamorphosis is "incomplete", the final ecdysis follows...
organism grow. This process is called ecdysis. Most Arthropoda with soft, flexible skins also undergo ecdysis. Ecdysis permits metamorphosis, the sometimes...
worms). The Ecdysozoa are protostomes, named after their shared trait of ecdysis, growth by moulting. They include the largest animal phylum, the Arthropoda...
secrete a second hormone, usually ecdysone (an ecdysteroid), that induces ecdysis (shedding of the exoskeleton). PTTH also stimulates the corpora allata...
into a period of time when the exoskeleton is shed, called moulting or ecdysis, which is under the control of a hormone called ecdysone. Moulting is a...
primitive form of dermal armour in reptiles. The shedding of scales is called ecdysis, or, in normal usage moulting or sloughing. Moulting performs a number...
resembles the adult in Ephemeroptera Instar, intermediate between each ecdysis Pupa and chrysalis, intermediate stages between larva and imago (the adult...
Ecdysozoa is supported by many morphological characters, including growth by ecdysis, with moulting of the cuticle – without mitosis in the epidermis – under...
growing stages occur, and the larvae periodically undergo hormone-induced ecdysis, developing further with each instar, until they undergo the final larval-pupal...
need two or three significant prey items throughout an entire season. Ecdysis occurs at least once during the active season. As the outer skin wears...
without being exposed to the environmental elements. After apolysis, ecdysis occurs. Ecdysis is the actual emergence of the arthropod into the environment and...
Sebastian Steinberg as part of the backing band on Miho Hatori's 2005 album Ecdysis. He has toured with Low, John Scofield, and David Byrne on the Songs of...
country. H. L. Mencken is credited with coining the word ecdysiast – from "ecdysis", meaning "to molt" – in response to a request from striptease artist Georgia...
circumference of its body.[page needed] The shedding of scales is called ecdysis (or in normal usage, molting or sloughing). Snakes shed the complete outer...
growth. Arthropods, therefore, replace their exoskeletons by undergoing ecdysis (moulting), or shedding the old exoskeleton, the exuviae, after growing...
breathing air, then climbs up a reed or other emergent plant, and moults (ecdysis). Anchoring itself firmly in a vertical position with its claws, its exoskeleton...
Bananaz. HanWay Films (2008) Berman, Stuart (11 January 2007). "Miho Hatori: Ecdysis Album Review". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on 3 October 2023...
body to pieces of the exoskeleton, which it shed in the process known as ecdysis. In addition, the tracks left behind by trilobites living on the sea floor...
performs solo under her own name and various monikers. Her first solo album, Ecdysis, was released in Japan in 2005, coming two years later to the American...
particularly crocodile skin. Reptiles shed their skin through a process called ecdysis which occurs continuously throughout their lifetime. In particular, younger...
need two or three significant prey items throughout an entire season. Ecdysis occurs at least once during the active season. As the outer skin wears...
placed on the major vein of a leaf and the larva undergoes apolysis, then ecdysis (molting), leaving the old exoskeleton behind. Sometimes the shed exoskeleton...
exoskeletons that encase their bodies, and have to undergo periodic moulting or ecdysis as the animals grow. The shells of molluscs are another form of exoskeleton...
and is replaced only during times of rapid growth, in a process called ecdysis or moulting. This is conferred by the presence of beta-keratin, which provides...
material, such as wool by cloths moths, or snakes eating their own skin after ecdysis. Lepidophagy: eating fish scales Molluscivore: eating molluscs Mucophagy:...
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