molt, time-lapse

[Galapoheros]

I saw that a geniculata I have was about to molt so I set it up for a time-lapse. I was going to post this in the "chat" section but look how you can see what looks like the exo finally separating from the abdomen to the head starting at around 18 seconds in. Has this been mentioned here before? What I'm thinking is that separation starts in the rear and moves forward, finally triggering a molt at the head, you wouldn't want to start molting too soon! Maybe it's a way to insure every thing is ready, who knows. It was interesting because, if there is anything to it, I notice the same thing in molting centipedes, separation from back to front. But for centipedes, it takes some days. I don't know if this is what is actually going on or not but it makes some sense to me.

http://s146.photobucket.com/albums/r264/galapoheros/?action=view&current=A014-20110418_003422.mp4

You can see signs of the heart beating in this vid:
http://s146.photobucket.com/albums/r264/galapoheros/?action=view&current=A015-20110418_024325.mp4

 

[BrynWilliams]

awesome vids! thanks for posting them up