JungleDragon is a nature and wildlife community for photographers, travellers and anyone who loves nature. We're genuine, free, ad-free and beautiful.

Join

Exuviae Exuviae is a term used in biology to describe the remains of an exoskeleton and related structures that are left after ecdysozoans[verification needed] (including insect, crustacean or arachnid) have moulted. The exuviae of an animal can be important to biologists as it can often be used to identify the species of the animal and even its sex.<br />
As it is not always practical to study insects, crustaceans or arachnids directly and because exuviae can be collected fairly easily, exuviae can play an important part in helping to determine some general aspects of a species overall life cycle such as distribution, sex ratio, production and proof of breeding in a habitat.<br />
&quot;Exuvia&quot; is a derived singular usage that is becoming more common; &quot;exuvium&quot; is an incorrect singular formation.[1][2 Exoskeleton,Exuviae,Insects,macro Click/tap to enlarge

Exuviae

Exuviae is a term used in biology to describe the remains of an exoskeleton and related structures that are left after ecdysozoans[verification needed] (including insect, crustacean or arachnid) have moulted. The exuviae of an animal can be important to biologists as it can often be used to identify the species of the animal and even its sex.
As it is not always practical to study insects, crustaceans or arachnids directly and because exuviae can be collected fairly easily, exuviae can play an important part in helping to determine some general aspects of a species overall life cycle such as distribution, sex ratio, production and proof of breeding in a habitat.
"Exuvia" is a derived singular usage that is becoming more common; "exuvium" is an incorrect singular formation.[1][2

    comments (5)

  1. Really interesting, thanks for explaining that this basically is the left-over skin of an insect. Posted 14 years ago
    1. THANK YOU! Posted 14 years ago
  2. That description is worth as much as a photo itself. Great! Thanks. Posted 14 years ago
    1. THANK YOU! Posted 14 years ago
  3. Dear all, you may have noticed a slight problem in some comments appearing in the wrong order. It's a bug. I'll try to fix it soon. Posted 14 years ago

Sign in or Join in order to comment.

No species identified

The species on this photo is not identified yet. When signed in, you can identify species on photos that you uploaded. If you have earned the social image editing capability, you can also identify species on photos uploaded by others.

View iryna melnyk's profile

By iryna melnyk

All rights reserved
Uploaded Jul 14, 2011. Captured Jun 10, 2011 21:42.
  • Canon EOS 50D
  • f/14
  • 1/250s
  • ISO100
  • 90mm