Molting
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In arthropods, the shedding of the cuticle. Arthropods, such as insects and crustaceans, owe a large part of their evolutionary success to their exoskeleton. It serves as a rigid attachment site for muscles and also provides a barrier against microbial invasion from the outside and water and ion loss from within. A rigid body covering, however, is not readily expandable. Consequently, at periodic intervals a new exoskeleton is formed and the old one shed to allow increases in body size or changes in morphology. Most of this process, termed molting, is hidden since the new exoskeleton forms underneath the old one.
