Molting

Molting Cicada, Cicadoidea

How to Molt: General Guidelines
Follow this guide and you won't end up like this poor dead sap.

1. Find a nice, quiet spot upon noticing your exoskeleton has become a tad too tight. You will notice an increased rate of protein synthesis in your epidermal cells as hormones are soon released.

2. You’ll start to feel your epidermis separate from the old endocuticle which is known as apolysis. The name might concern you, but don’t worry – it’s a normal process of molting.

3. Don’t be alarmed by the digestive action of the molting fluid! A special lipoprotein will also be secreted and create the cuticulin laye* to protect you before that molting fluid becomes active.

4. The endocuticle of the old exoskeleton will be digested, but your hard work won’t go to waste! Everything will be recycled to form a new procuticle layer underneath your cuticulin layer.

5. Take a deep breath and go! The swelling will cause your old exoskeleton to split open and give you a chance at freedom. Be careful, though. It’ll take some time before your new, slightly larger exoskeleton hardens.

6. If you just gained your wings, congratulations! Remember to dry them properly or they'll just be decoration, especially those of you with delicate, folding wings. You'll fly soon enough!

 We wish you the best of luck and hope this guide has been helpful for all your molting needs. As long as you time it right and have a perfect chemical balance, you don’t need to fear getting stuck and dying. We’ll see some of you again next time. Until then, stay safe!

Brought to you by #ScienceSunday. All your science needs, every Sunday.


It's been a busy night, so here is an almost direct re-post of my earlier post on Google+ found here (with links external instead of embedded). Hopefully it'll suffice for tonight!