How do you know if you have a MM H. Pulchripes?

[Ian1980]

Hi Guys and gals,

I bought an H. Pulchripes from someone last year who sold it to me as a Juvenile female. When I got "her" she had the brilliant blue colour on her legs and was a beautiful golden colour on the abdomen etc.... "She" moulted about 4 weeks ago and has gone very dark in colouration. What do you all think? He or she is only about 3" leg span. The flash on the camera has made "her" look a little lighter. In natural light "she" is very dark and has no blue on the legs anymore.

 

[Minty]

https://tomsbigspiders.files.wordpress.com/2015/11/male-tarantula-diagram-web.jpg

Every mature male will have emboli on the pedipalps. That is the most accurate way to determine whether or not a tarantula is a MM or not. Some people say they look like boxing gloves.

 

[Vanisher]

That is a mature male! Try to find a female for him and you may get some spiderlings?

 

[Ian1980]

Thank you Vanisher. I'm a little disappointed but will see if I can pimp him out.

 

[Vanisher]

Where did you buy him? If it was from a petshop i am not surprised! They dont seem to know how to sex a tarantula or they lie to get to sell them?

 

[Liquifin]

Can you take another picture of the palps. Because it looks like he has gloves on one side and none on another. So I can't say for sure

 

[Vanisher]

See it from the bright side! You got the chance to get maybe 50 slings if you find one that has a female

 

[Ian1980]

Can you take another picture of the palps. Because it looks like he has gloves on one side and none on another. So I can't say for sure

I will when I can. He has just gone back in his little web castle.

 

[jrh3]

Can you take another picture of the palps. Because it looks like he has gloves on one side and none on another. So I can't say for sure

I saw that too, i dont see any gloves, if you look close its actually the last segment bent down. I wouldnt just to say its a male yet. Better pics will tell more.

 

[Vanisher]

Can you take another picture of the palps. Because it looks like he has gloves on one side and none on another. So I can't say for sure

yeah!! You are right!! I looked at the right. If i look carefully i may now believe that it is some black dot behind the pedipalp that got me think it was a male? I may think i jumpt on wrong conclusion here!

 

[Liquifin]

Hell yeah! You are right!! I looked at the right. If i look carefully i may now believe that it is some black dot behind the pedipalp that got me think it was a male?

True that some MM becomes dark like this when they're MM for H. pulchripes. But older females of this species will lose their bright blue as it becomes more dark as they get older. So a better pic is needed for certain.

 

[dangerforceidle]

I'm not convinced it's a mature male from this photo alone. The leg proportions don't seem right, and this species gets very leggy once the males mature (I have two mature males at the moment ).

Here is a photo of one of mine for comparison:

 

[KezyGLA]

You have a MM H. pulchripes

 

[dangerforceidle]

You have a MM H. pulchripes

Out of curiosity, what says "mature male" about OP's image?

 

[EulersK]

100% MM

Because it looks like he has gloves on one side and none on another.

I see what you're talking about, but count the legs on the right side of the picture again. The "pedipalp" without emboli is just its front left leg. The true left pedipalp just looks like it's behind the front left leg. I of course could be wrong, but that's what I'm seeing.

 

[dangerforceidle]

100% MM



I see what you're talking about, but count the legs on the right side of the picture again. The "pedipalp" without emboli is just its front left leg. The true left pedipalp just looks like it's behind the front left leg. I of course could be wrong, but that's what I'm seeing.

I've marked up the limbs with paint: https://i.imgur.com/faBV4bT.jpg

The front left leg as you've described is also short a segment compared to its neighbour, from what I can see. Pedipalps lack a metatarsus.

Still, the leg proportions are not as extreme as I'd expect for a mature male of this species, and the metatarsus of Leg I is not "curved" enough (to aide the tibial apophysis). Not to mention the tarsus of the palps being similar in shape and appearance to the tarsus of Leg I (spider's left -- position of the palp on spider's right obscures the shape from this perspective).

I'm still not convinced it's a MM.

 

[Teal]

You have a MM H. pulchripes

I normally would entirely trust your word on something like this...
But I'm really not convinced that is a mature male...

 

[Vanisher]

Do i see a blurry hook on one of the legs in the last picture? Or is it a tip of one leg! Im no expert if males of this speicues have hooks but i think Harpactira males has?
It looks very slim bodied/leggy aswell!

 

[dangerforceidle]

Do i see a blurry hook on one of the legs in the last picture? Or is it a tip of one leg! Im no expert if males of this speicues have hooks but i think Harpactira males has?
It looks very slim bodied/leggy aswell!

In the last picture? You mean mine, that was posted as an example of a mature male with which to compare OP's image to?

 

[EtienneN]

My vote is for definite male, maybe penultimate. However, I’m willing to bet there are some emboli on those palps if we could see them better.