A spider crab sheds its skin
Editor at Naturenet
Uncooperative crusty. Unofficial Isle of Wight cultural ambassador. Conservation, countryside and the environment, with extra stuff about spiders.
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Here’s a speeded-up video showing the remarkable process whereby a spider-crab sheds its skin. Pretty much all arthropods undergo this process of ecdysis during development. Imagine pulling your legs out of those!
You can see the results of this for yourself – no need to go to Japan. Next time you find a dead spider in your house, look carefully. Does it look rather faint and thin? Has the top been flipped up like a bin-lid? If so, you could be looking at a miniature version of the exuvium the crab in this video leaves behind. Via Boing Boing
I have the same trouble taking my socks off some days.
I always wondered how they got their legs out and now I know!