Ecdysis

Ecdysis is the process of shedding the old skin (in reptiles) or casting off the outer cuticle (in insects and other arthropods). I spotted this Hairy Shield Bug emerging from its last larval instar at Barford Wood and Meadows where I was completing recording of NVC quadrats. 

Most insects only gradually develop their adult colour after ecdysis, but I never realised that the teneral form of this species was such a vibrant shade of salmon-pink!