Exoskeleton

In the summertime, things happen quickly. Flowers bloom profusely and fade, shrubs and trees shoot skyward, insects buzz, birds flit, clouds sail, storms come-and-go — it's difficult to keep up with everything that is happening! I have flower photos from a month ago that I still haven't posted, mushrooms that have sprouted in the yard which haven't been posted yet, and still trying to keep up with my Old Barn Project posts & the stones /crystals from my collection of pretty rocks. I'm hanging on, through the flurry of summer activity, like this bug...

^{• PHOTO BY ME •}

This strange-looking little bug was perched on the back door of the house recently, and stayed there, unmoving, for hours. Then, it hit me that it wasn't a bug at all, but the exoskeleton of an insect!

For many members of the animal kingdom, our skeletons are inside our bodies, acting as a framework for the muscles, organs, and other tissue that develops around it. That is called an endoskeleton.

For other members of the animal kingdom, their skeletons are outside their bodies, acting as a protective armor for the muscles, organs, and tissue that develops inside it. That is called an exoskeleton. Wikipedia cites the following examples:

Examples of animals with exoskeletons include insects such as grasshoppers and cockroaches, and crustaceans such as crabs and lobsters. The shells of certain sponges and the various groups of shelled molluscs, including those of snails, clams, tusk shells, chitons and nautilus, are also exoskeletons. Some animals, such as the tortoise, have both an endoskeleton and an exoskeleton. ^[2]

^{• PHOTO BY ME •}

As such creatures grow, a new exoskeleton forms beneath the existing one and the outer exoskeleton is eventually shed. These exoskeletal remains are called exuviae^[4] by biologists and are quite important in the study of these organisms. Wikipedia says:

As it is not always practical to study insects, crustaceans or arachnids directly and because exuviae can be collected fairly easily, they 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. ^[3]

Exoskeletons can be composed of various materials. Two of these are calcium carbonate and silica, both of which are substances that appear in certain rocks such as calcite and quartz. It is amazing how compounds can be utilized in such different ways!

So, keep your eyes open — you may see a bug, or you may see a "ghost" of a bug in the form of an exoskeleton!

😊

SOURCES
   ¹ Wikipedia: Calcium Carbonate
   ² Wikipedia: Exoskeleton
   ³ Wikipedia: Exuviae
   ⁴ Wikipedia: Moulting

Exoskeleton

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