Thumper molts


He/she is practically motionless, very gingerly extracting his 'new' legs (left) from the soon-to-be-discarded husk (right).



The tightly bunched legs, more brightly colored than the old ones, have emerged another half inch.



Success! And exhaustion, while the fresh exoskeleton (bottom) hardens. You can see the holes in the husk (top) from which the legs and mouthparts were extracted.



And he is out and about again, with an enlarged leg-span. He is brightly colored and heavily furred, while the discarded husk fades away.