Amblypygi species confirmation

[brahn]

The following amblypygi were sold to me as Damon medius, but I'd really appreciate a species confirmation before starting a breeding, as their characteristics seems to be slightly different making me doubt their species identification.

Sold as 2 female D. medius:

Sold as 1 male D. medius:

Sold as one of two unsexed D. medius juveniles:


Could someone help confirm and deny their species?

 

[brahn]

@Banshee05 Maybe you could be of help?

 

[Banshee05]

Could be medius, a clear ID is with this sort of pictures not possible. But looks indeed like a western African Damon species

 

[aphono]

Can you show a better picture of the second female on right in the first picture? It sort of seems maybe different but hard to be sure if the difference is real or due to camera angle etc

 

[brahn]

Can you show a better picture of the second female on right in the first picture? It sort of seems maybe different but hard to be sure if the difference is real or due to camera angle etc

Here's a closeup shot of one of the females from the first image:

 

[AphonopelmaTX]

Could be medius, a clear ID is with this sort of pictures not possible. But looks indeed like a western African Damon species

What characters need to be seen in order to determine the species?

 

[aphono]

Here's a closeup shot of one of the females from the first image:
View attachment 311964

Appreciate the picture. This is different from the others. Hopefully @Banshee05 will know what it might be.

 

[Banshee05]

Hi,
you cannot tell it for sure based on pictures.
The first key character, dividing western- and eastern/southern African Damon species is the absence or presence, respectively, of ventral sac covers. Further, the 3rd tibial spine is only in large specimens shorter than half of the length of the 2nd one in western African, and is in most species shorter as… etc. in eastern African species. Further it become more complicated… e.g. number of external teeth, genitalia, frontal process etc.

 

[brahn]

Hi,
you cannot tell it for sure based on pictures.
The first key character, dividing western- and eastern/southern African Damon species is the absence or presence, respectively, of ventral sac covers. Further, the 3rd tibial spine is only in large specimens shorter than half of the length of the 2nd one in western African, and is in most species shorter as… etc. in eastern African species. Further it become more complicated… e.g. number of external teeth, genitalia, frontal process etc.

Thank you for the followup, I'll try to get some images of the ventral area of these.
My main concern is the risk of hybridization or cannibalism if I were to house them together and they turn out to be different species.

Is there any conclusive evidence, or significant indications that these are indeed two different species?

 

[Banshee05]

For me, they look like the same species in different ages, and duration to/from a molting event.

 

[brahn]

Ok, I got a ventral shot from each of the two groups.
Hopefully without stressing them out too badly.

The flash didn't cover the entire body, unfortunately, but it's as good as I'm likely to get without some additional photo gear.

Group #1 (the two females):


Group #2 (The group of one male and two unsexed):


Hopefully this is enough to work with.

 

[brahn]

@Banshee05 & @aphono : Looking closer at the ventral shots they look identical to me, and given the previous comments I'm going to conclude that they're the same species, and indeed what they were being sold as (D. medius).
That means the breeding project is a go.

Thanks for your help.

 

[Banshee05]

these pictures do not help...you can't see something. And what is your intention? Sexing or species ID? ...

 

[BobBarley]

Please take a clear photo of the ventral side. We are looking for whether or not there is a ventral sac cover. Looks like there is to me, but a clearer picture would be extremely helpful!

Can you please take a picture of the front half (where the eyes are) of the carapace? I'm looking for a little frontal process which looks like a little tooth sticking out from the tip of the carapace (in line with the eye turret).

If you have any dead specimens, I'd love to examine them as I'd like to look at the chelicerae & female genitalia for more species confirmation.