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A tarantula repose on its back in a nest of webbing , its legs periodically flexing . With torturing slowness , the legs start to extend as a shining gibbousness start to erupt out of the wanderer ’s back . finally , the Lycosa tarentula pushes away its former exoskeleton like a dirty couple of pants .
This molting operation is one of the most severe moments inany arachnid ’s life , and the same get for other exoskeleton - adorned creatures , such as crustacean and insects . But now , research find that this vulnerable period may actually protect molting animal from sponger .
A water flea (Daphnia magna) undergoes molting. Like all crustaceans, this tiny creature must molt to grow.
" Molting before long afterexposure to parasitescan actually help host get free of tie parasites before they infiltrate the legion torso , " say study author David Duneau , a postdoctoral researcher at Cornell University who completed the research while at the University of Basel , Switzerland . " Therefore , the report suggests a unexampled agency for avoiding transmission for host which molt throughout their lives , like is the case for crustacean , arachnids , roundworm , amphibian and reptiles . " [ Skin Shedders : A Gallery of Creatures That ecdysis ]
To test this idea , Duneau exposedtiny crustaceanscalled water flea ( Daphnia magna ) to a bacterial parasite in the genusPasteuria . He then monitored the piddle fleas for moult and infection rates .
The finding discover that the piss fleas were importantly less likely to be infected by the sponge if they exuviate within 12 hr of photo . The findings have several implications , Duneau report today ( April 10 ) in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B. First , parasites are likely under pressure to infect their horde soon after attach , lest they be throw away with the moult .
Second , the water flea did n’t seem to be able to come out a moulting in reaction to parasites attaching to them ; but molting is an energetically intensive process , and so other element boundary when and if they can moult , Duneau told LiveScience . If a emcee is in a situation where sustenance is circumscribed or it otherwise can not molt often , those environmental cistron could increase the likeliness of a successful sponger transmission . parasite themselves can influence a emcee ’s development , Duneau said , potentially influencing moult .
The study might also explain why lizard andsnakesare less susceptible totick - transmitted Lyme diseasethan bird and mammals ( include humans ) , Duneau say . TheBorreliabacteria that get Lyme disease need 78 hours of ticking - prey time to travel to the host ’s dead body . When reptilian shed their skin entirely , they may disrupt this process , protecting the animal from transmission .
