Poecilotheria sexual dimorphism

[Angel Minkov]

Hello. I've read many controversial opinions on this matter, so ultimately I decided to make a thread here. My question is rather simple - which Pokies display sexual dimorphism, and at which age does it start? I know of P. regalis and P. ornata, with P. ornata displaying it at a rather young age.

My second question, which isn't all that important, is about P. regalis sexual dimorphism strictly - when does it start being visible? I have a P. regalis that molted about a week ago and I'm wondering if it's big enough to sex dorsally. I just measured it and It's about 3 inches DLS (not fully stretched, but close to it).

 

[Mako16]

I also have a 3'' freshly molted regalis and it's a male.

 

[Poec54]

You can easily get lost in the weeds sexing juvenile Poecs by dorsal colors and markings. Some people have made serious (and costly) blunders doing that. One shed can make a big difference. The only time I do that with anything besides ornata, is when I have a group of slings from the same sac and can compare them side-by-side. Even then, vent sexing is more accurate.

Why not vent sex? I vent sex my Poecs at 2". At least you're looking at sex organs and not transient colors and markings.

 

[Angel Minkov]

The question was pure curiosity. Ventrally, I think my regalis is a female, but I cant get a clear view.

I was asking because I cant find anything on P. fasciata sexual dimorphism. I got one today. Funny sling - It has a beetle in its mouth, eating, and randomly starts runningn around its enclosure, latching onto its prey, without me doing anything except watching. I guess thats further proof arboreals have good eyesight, or at least a better one than that of terrestrials.

 

[Poec54]

Ventrally, I think my regalis is a female, but I cant get a clear view.

With Poecs usually being on the sides of their cages, they're one of the easiest to sex from that alone. Plus their fur is short and it's usually easy to see the vent and epiandrous fusilae. I sex most of my Poecs when they're on the side of their cage, using a flashlight. Doesn't get any easier than that. For the few that I can't catch that way, I put them in a deli cup and give them the flashlight treatment.

Except for half-grown ornata and a couple other species as subadults (like vittata), I would NEVER rely on dorsal coloring or markings for sexing Poecs. I've read old posts where people have really screwed that up.

 

[Angel Minkov]

Sadly, Im not as good as you at sexing pokies, Rick (

 

[Pociemon]

Sadly, Im not as good as you at sexing pokies, Rick (

Well, practice it and you will learn....;-)

 

[Poec54]

Sadly, Im not as good as you at sexing pokies, Rick (

I only learned how to vent sex several years ago. I looked at the sexing pics on a couple sites until I got a feel for it.

 

[Angel Minkov]

I can vent sex adults, but Im not very good at juvie sexing. With a clearer view, my regalis appears to have a black dot, so Im guessing its male. Ill post pics maybe.

 

[Pociemon]

I can vent sex adults, but Im not very good at juvie sexing. With a clearer view, my regalis appears to have a black dot, so Im guessing its male. Ill post pics maybe.

I allways have alot T´s home in all sizes, so when i decided to learn it i decided to start sexing all my poecs around 4/5 molt. I pick them up in a wine glass for a good view and sex them, i write every "guess" down, and when i later on i check them throug spermathecae. That way i i eventually got good at it. I get around 90% correct. There will allways be some T´s that are a little tricky....

 

[Ceratogyrus]

Not my pic (Will link the thread later), but would you say this is male or female? Its a regalis around 17cm

 

[Angel Minkov]

Looks female to me.

 

[Poec54]

Not my pic (Will link the thread later), but would you say this is male or female? Its a regalis around 17cm

The light folium looks female, but the reduced contrast on the carapace looks more like a male. I wouldn't make a guess based on that pic.

That's why I vent sex, which is usually simple with Poecs, as they're often on the side of their cage like in that pic. Why guess dorsally, when you can easily see the vent?

 

[Ceratogyrus]

The spider actually matured at the next moult into a huge MM

 

[Angel Minkov]

Why did I feel it would end up being Male LOL

 

[Poec54]

The spider actually matured at the next moult into a huge MM

Folium's for male Poecs are typically dark, including regalis. In this case the washed out carapace was the thing to go by, not the light folium. Again showing the risk in sexing immatures by dorsal colors/markings. If the carapace would have had a little more black on it, it would have been a pretty convincing 'female'.

 

[Ceratogyrus]

Like the communal issue, I was at first very keen on dorsal sexing, until this guy came along. I'm still not always convinced by ventral sexing, so prefer the good old moult sexing method for most spiders

 

[Poec54]

Like the communal issue, I was at first very keen on dorsal sexing, until this guy came along. I'm still not always convinced by ventral sexing, so prefer the good old moult sexing method for most spiders

Vent sexing isn't intended to be 100%, but with experience you can be fairly accurate. I've got too many spiders and too many sheds to keep track of for molt sexing.