Tarantula Wiki..(How to determine Mature tarantula"Male/ Female")

[chrisM187]

---

Tarantulas give some people the creeps because of their large, hairy bodies and legs. But these spiders are harmless to humans (except for a painful bite), and their mild venom is weaker than a typical bee's. Among arachnid enthusiasts, these spiders have become popular pets.
Tarantulas periodically shed their external skeletons in a process called molting. In the process, they also replace internal organs, such as female genitalia and stomach lining, and even regrow lost appendages.
There are hundreds of tarantula species found in most of the world's tropical, subtropical, and arid regions. They vary in color and behavior according to their specific environments. Generally, however, tarantulas are burrowers that live in the ground.
Tarantulas are slow and deliberate movers, but accomplished nocturnal predators. Insects are their main prey, but they also target bigger game, including frogs, toads, and mice. The South American bird-eating spider, as it name suggests, is even able to prey upon small birds.

Males
Let’s start with males. Males as a rule are a bit smaller than females of the same species and population, and they tend to have longer, thinner legs and a smaller, sometimes almost shrunken-looking abdomen. Occasionally, their colors and patterns are slightly different in details, and possibly the details of some areas of climbing bristles on the legs (the scopulae) may differ between sexes. When the male makes its molt to the sexually mature form—usually sometime between one and three years of age—this is the end of its growth, and the spider will not successfully molt again. With this molt, it develops fairly obvious external characters that allow it to be sexed.
First, the tarsus of each pedipalp becomes strongly mod*ified. The segment generally becomes widened or twisted into a clawless structure called the cymbium that is scooped out underneath to hide an oval sperm bulb that ends in a hollow process called the embolus. When not in use, the sperm bulb is held in a horizontal position against the cym*bium and may not be easily visible, but you should be able to detect that the segment itself is not normal and then notice the swollen bulb. In the majority of common taran*tulas, the mature male also develops a large blackish hook or spine at the end of the tibia of each first walking leg. This is known as the tibial apophysis (plural, apophyses). Though sometimes partially hidden under long bristles under the legs, if you look closely, you can see the apophyses.

Additionally, in many male tarantulas, you can see a shal*low, straight epigastric furrow running between the two anterior book lungs. Running from the furrow forward toward the pedicel is a pair of nearly parallel indented lines, usually with a slightly raised, whitish oval area between them. This is the ventral spinning field of the male, from which it spins some of its sperm web.


Sexing Information:

• A visual guide to locating the female Spermatheca
  by examination of an excuvia (molt or shed skin)

• Locating the epiandrous fusillae on an immature male Tarantula or
  the lack of on a female Tarantula. Please know that most species
  will NOT have epiandrous fusillae that is clearly visibly with the
  naked eye and will require magnification and experience in examining
  a number of specimens. The epiandrous fusillae are basically a shorter,
  and more dense patch of shaped hairs that have a specialized purpose
  in the construction of the male's sperm web. It does not always appear
  as a dark spot, and in some species may appear even lighter colored or to the naked eye, no visible difference. The point here is to look at as many specimens, of as many species as you can and you will begin to see the differences. In many species you will not be looking for color, but under magnification, the size, shape and specific distribution of these hairs.

​


A Female B. albopilosum. An immature Male B. albopilosum
(Lack of epiandrous fusillae) (The epiandrous fusillae is present)

Females
Mature females tend to be a bit larger than mature males, with thicker legs and larger abdomens. Maturity is gradual in females, and it may take three to six years for some larger tarantulas to mature. To determine the *** of a living taran*tula that lacks obvious sperm bulbs, you must turn it over (carefully) and observe the base of the abdomen under magnification and good light. As in the male, the epigastric furrow runs between the two anterior book lungs, but in a mature female it is a raised, clifflike area that often is obvi*ous in lateral view. As a rule, the higher the cliff, the more likely that the tarantula is mature. There generally is a trape*zoidal area (not a square as in males) lacking a pale spot in the center in front of the epigastric furrow.



(The Spermatheca on a Female tarantula is clearly present)

Question:Ang sa Mature Male ra ako nakit.an jd...Anyone can share, kng unsa indications sa Mature Female?tnx daan...

Share mo sa inyu mga personal experience guys nga lisod pangitaon sa net...ty

[chrisM187]

...........

[Mr. Wonderful]

Informative.....

[morty13]

thanks kau ani nga info bai.. hehehe..

[morty13]

brad.. up up up up ko ni.. hehehe..

[chrisM187]

nid more info...tnx

[parslegacy]

nice info pra sa uban nga bag.o pa nag start ani nga hobby keep it up

[Leith Dhiren]

nice info sir...

[chrisM187]

basa pa mu and share.....bg.o ra pd ko...still nid to learn a lot more....

[chrisM187]

post link and more info pls