When sexing T's ventrally, you look mainly at the epigastric furrow - the slit opening on the underside of the abdomen between the forward book lungs. You want to see the shape of it, whether it bulges out or is relatively flat, does it have any obvious "dents" or "notches" or is it more of a smooth arc, and are there any epiandrous fusillae present? Epiandrous fusillae (EF) are modified silk spigots that are used when making a sperm web, and their presence is a clear indicator that a T is a male. Not seeing them, though, doesn't necessarily mean your T is a female - it could still be a male with EF that are just hard to see. You have to take all these characteristics into consideration, and even then you will miss the mark from time to time because ventral sexing is only an educated guess. Examining a molt for the presence of female reproductive parts is the only 100% accurate way to sex a T.
Thank you for the info! It was sold to me as a female, but I just wanted to make sure because I was sold a female in the past and turned out to be a male.
When sexing T's ventrally, you look mainly at the epigastric furrow - the slit opening on the underside of the abdomen between the forward book lungs. You want to see the shape of it, whether it bulges out or is relatively flat, does it have any obvious "dents" or "notches" or is it more of a smooth arc, and are there any epiandrous fusillae present? Epiandrous fusillae (EF) are modified silk spigots that are used when making a sperm web, and their presence is a clear indicator that a T is a male. Not seeing them, though, doesn't necessarily mean your T is a female - it could still be a male with EF that are just hard to see. You have to take all these characteristics into consideration, and even then you will miss the mark from time to time because ventral sexing is only an educated guess. Examining a molt for the presence of female reproductive parts is the only 100% accurate way to sex a T.
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![Genicula [7/7] (♂ Acanthoscurria geniculata 4.5″)](/data/xfmg/thumbnail/94/94021-a4274769fb167f03c0f3f90ef99375b0.jpg?1726864108)