# Heterometrus Spinifer sexing



## flyers90 (Jan 27, 2018)

Can someone please help me sex my scorpion

It's a Heterometrus Spinifer.
I think it's a female.













Heterometrus Petersii



__ flyers90
__ Jan 27, 2018



						Got a new pet today!


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## miss moxie (Jan 27, 2018)

Yes, female. The 'wings' on a male are closer together in the middle, along with being bigger.






 Male H. petersii





 Female H. petersii


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## Collin Clary (Jan 28, 2018)

Yes, female. Additionally however it appears to be a _Heterometrus petersii_, not _H. spinifer._


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## flyers90 (Jan 28, 2018)

Collin Clary said:


> Yes, female. Additionally however it appears to be a _Heterometrus petersii_, not _H. spinifer._


Okay! 
How can you tell them apart? 
Thanks!


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## flyers90 (Jan 28, 2018)

Here's another pic

I also found this thread.
But it isn't easy telling them apart.

http://arachnoboards.com/threads/identifying-common-heterometrus-revised.94196/


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## Collin Clary (Jan 31, 2018)

flyers90 said:


> Okay!
> How can you tell them apart?
> Thanks!


There are four species of _Heterometrus_ in the hobby that look extremely similar to each other (though _H. petersii _is by far the most common).

_H. petersii _and _H. laoticus_ have dark telsons, rounder chela, and dorsal keels on the 5th metasomal segment that consist of relatively minute granules, while _H. spinifer _and _H. longimanus_ usually have telsons that are lighter than their metasomas (usually red in adults, and various shades of yellow/orange as juveniles), narrower chela, and dorsal keels on the 5th metasomal segment that consist of relatively large, pointed granules.
_
H. petersii _and _H. laoticus_ can be distinguished from each other in that _H. petersii_ has granulation on the carapace and tergites while _H. laoticus _is totally devoid of any granulation, and _H. petersii _shows sexual dimorphism in that males have an enlarged tooth on the movable finger of the chela. Both species have a pectine tooth count of 15-19 in both sexes.

_H. spinifer _and_ H. longimanus _can be distinguished from each other in that _H. spinifer _has a pectine tooth count of 15-19 in both sexes, while _H. longimanus_ has a pectine tooth count of 12-18 in both sexes. Sexual dimorphism in proportions of pedipalps in _H. spinifer_ is not noticable, with chela slightly lobiform and a length to width ratio of 2.4-2.6 in both sexes. In _H. longimanus_ on the other hand, the chela, patella, and femur of the pedipalps in males are narrower and more elongate than in females. Chela not lobiform in male, slightly lobiform in female. Length to width ratio of chela 3.3-4.4 in males, roughly 2.4 in females.

Females of _H. spinifer _and _H. longimanus_ are nearly indistinguishable from each other. Some small differences are that in _H. spinifer _the manus has smooth carinae forming irregular reticulations, while the manus of _H. longimanus_ is sparsely tuberculate, and that while both species usually have the carapace with disc smooth and margins granulate, sometimes in _H. longimanus _the entire surface is granulate.

Reactions: Informative 1


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