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. The remnants of the old, empty exoskeleton are called exuviae.
Adult Rhopalomyia solidaginis fly, emerging from pupal case
Moulting (ecdysis) in southern hawker, Aeshna cyanea
Female crab spider Synema decens, teneral after final ecdysis, still dangling from drop line, about to be mated, opisthosoma still shrunken
In biology, moulting, or molting, also known as sloughing, shedding, or in many invertebrates, ecdysis, is a process by which an animal casts off parts of its body to serve some beneficial purpose, either at specific times of the year, or at specific points in its life cycle.
A dragonfly in its radical final moult, metamorphosing from an aquatic nymph to a winged adult.
A king penguin with developing replacement feathers, sometimes called pin feathers
A young Mediterranean House Gecko in the process of moulting.
The moulting phase of a southern hawker