What is molting? What is its role in the life of arthropods?

Molting of the outer cuticular layer of the body is a vital process for arthropods, including insects and crustaceans. This profound endocrinological and physiological process has undoubtedly helped ensure the evolutionary success of arthropods, which are the largest type in the animal kingdom. The exoskeleton of arthropods serves as a rigid binding site for muscles and as a barrier against microbial invasion and the loss of ions and water from tissues. However, the exoskeleton is rigid and cannot expand. Thus, when an animal grows to a certain size, it must periodically shed its outer cuticle (the main part of the rigid exoskeleton) and form a new cuticle.