Many creatures must moult in order to thrive. A key course of life but also fraught with dangers: it is then that it is very easy to be eaten by the enemy!
1. The cicadas take off the corset for half an hour
Cicada larvae spend 3 to 6 years in the soil. During the last molt, the chrysalis crawled out of its hiding place and climbed a tree, braced itself, cracked its bark and slowly exited the back alley, then lay still for a few hours, giving a new skin and dry wings to crawl.
2. The way of the Japanese crab
This female crab has started a new moult. A year ago, it developed from a crust 1.5 meters in diameter. When he feels too cramped, he opens the blanket by pulling back and it takes hours to get out of the old shirt. This crab can live up to 100 years, size up to 3.7 m, weighs 20 kg!
3. Gecko: tear the shirt into pieces
This gecko rubbed against the tree branch to molt. Every year, it has to peel several times, because the skin is not elastic enough for the growth of the body. He then also eats his skin, a source of fattening foods rich in vitamins.
4. Hanging only by a silk thread
Hanging from a branch with only a small thread, the striped spider swayed its body in the wind. This position gives him complete freedom of movement to take off his coat and slip into it.
5. Penguins change their feathers
At birth, penguins have absorbent feathers. About 13 months old, the new waterproof coat appears. Then he dared to go out to sea to feed and did not return to the mainland until three years later to give birth.
6. The old coat is fine
Camels begin to remove old fur in winter. In the spring, the feathers fall in large plates and are collected for weaving rugs or clothes.
7. Once a month
The American locust lives in humid climates. In a short life of about six months, it should molt 5-6 times.
8. In the velvet layer
At the end of winter, reindeer display their new horn wrapped in velvety, ultra-smooth skin. In the fall, this skin becomes dry and cracks. The horn was bare again and fell off after the heat season.
