In the third instar larva of Manduca sexta, the spigot is shorter and not protruding from the “brushy” spinneret that may be used to spread saliva. A new study in Insect Systematics and Diversity models in new detail the caterpillar’s first instar silk-producing anatomy and subsequent loss of that capability as it molts to later instars. (Image courtesy of István Mikó, Ph.D.)