Tuesday, December 9, 2008

moulting again

I return with pics!
3.50 pm - one scorpling has just started to moult. It's exoskeleton breaks/splits/cracks open between the carapace and the chelicerae(mouth part thingys). Look at the arrow. It then squeezes through that opening.

6.50 pm - halfway through...

9.50 pm - It's done. Although because i was too busy watching Mummy 3, I don't know for sure what time it finished moulting =_=
1 - 2nd instars
2 - newly moulted 3rd instar
3 - skin of number 2
4 - 3rd instar. Moulted some time ago but it's exoskeleton hasn't darkened enough yet.

3rd Instar!

4 scorplings have molted into 3rd instars. These are the skins. They're just about 2cm long.

Here's a closeup of one. It probably just finished molting a few hours ago. The telson(venom bulb) is still white but will turn a yellowish-brown later. The four eyes (2 near the mouth, the other 2 are quite close together so it looks like there is only one eye) can be seen very clearly. The armour/exoskeleton will also turn dark green/black later.

edit: the 2 eyes near the mouth are the lateral eyes. The other two are the two median eyes.

Sunday, December 7, 2008

One scorpling has molted again! Here's the skin. It's so small!