Exuvia Information & Exuvia Links at HealthHaven.com

Exuviae of an Antarctic krill. Many details are still there: the filtering basket, the compound eye, the gastric mill

Exuviae is a term used in biology to describe the remains of an exoskeleton^{[citation needed]} that is left after an arthropod (insect, crustacean or arachnid) has 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 as standards degrade; exuvium is an incorrect singular formation ^[1]^[2]

Exuvia tarantula	Potamon fluviatile and exuvia	A dragonfly Exuviae	Exuviae horseshoe crab. Ventral
Exuviae horseshoe crab. Dorsal	Southern Hawker and exuvia	Magicicada sp.

[edit] References

^ Torre-Bueno, J.R. de la, et al. (1989) The Torre-Bueno Glossary of Entomology, rev. ed. New York: New York Entomological Society. 840 pp. ISBN 0913424137
^ Grimaldi, D. and Engel, M.S. (2005) Evolution of the Insects. Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0-521-82149-5]]

[edit] External links

Exuviae of a scorpion (Centruroides gracilis)

[Taxacom] exuvia versus exuvium, Doug Yanega *[1]

[0] Torre-Bueno, J.R. de la, et al. (1989) The Torre-Bueno Glossary of Entomology, rev. ed. New York: New York Entomological Society. 840 pp. ISBN 0913424137

[1] Grimaldi, D. and Engel, M.S. (2005) Evolution of the Insects. Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0-521-82149-5]]

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