P. metallica 02.jpg
DaveOB

P. metallica 02.jpg

P. metallica. Approx. 50mm DLS
Thanks in advance.
That's still pretty small to make an accurate call, but I'd lean towards female.
 
Thank you! I did wonder if it was too small to accurately determine, but I figured there was no harm in trying. Can I ask what it is you're specifically looking at? I've sexed moults in the past, but this is completely new to me.
 
When sexing ventrally we are mostly looking for a male reproductive organ called epiandrous fusillae - it's a patch of specialized setae that are used for making sperm webs, and is located above the anterior lip of the epigastric furrow (the little slit that runs between the forward set of book lungs). Lack of that patch generally indicates female, and there are some other characteristics present in females that we look for, like distance between book lungs, bulging anterior lip of the furrow, and curvature of the furrow.

Here are a couple examples to help illustrate the differences.

Female:

Male:
 
Thanks again! Clearly, having a male & female to allow a direct comparison would make it easier for us beginners. Hopefully as my 2 slings grow I'll be able to retrieve a molt so I can directly compare the internal structure against the external.
 

Media information

Category
Epiandrous fusillae sexing (Not Molts)
Added by
DaveOB
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Comment count
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Image metadata

Device
Canon Canon EOS R5
Aperture
ƒ/10
Focal length
100.0 mm
Exposure time
1/100
ISO
800
Flash
On, fired
Filename
P. metallica 02.jpg
File size
3.1 MB
Date taken
Wed, 12 April 2023 9:39 PM
Dimensions
2500px x 2070px

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