B. auratum Mating

[Joy]

I had a successful mating of these guys last night. The female in the picture is my infamous round-bodied auratum; I have 2 other females whom I intend to try later on.

It was a very straightforward mating in most respects, but there was one interesting point. The male had successfully inserted one palp, and when he withdrew it, the female was jerked out of position, ending up with all eight legs down on the substrate again (those who've witnessed matings know both insertion and withdrawal can be fairly violent processes). Most males I've seen this happen to have decided that one palp was enough and got the hell out of there, but this male very calmly hoisted the female up again and inserted the second palp. Then and only then did he leave. He didn't waste any time about it, either, though the female made no move to attack him. I'll wait a few days, then try to mate them again. An eggsac may or may not result, but this particular female certainly shows every sign of being full of eggs

Joy

 

[Lasiodora]

I actually saw the same thing happen when I introduced a male to my female B.smithi. The male climbed on top of her cork hide hollow. He then did his courtship jiggle to get her to come out. She clumsily climbed (she's very fat) to meet him. He then did the same thing you described. He inserted one palp and she some how came out of position. He then repositioned her and reinserted the other palp a second time. This time he pushed her very far back though. They were mating close to the edge of the cork bark and I thought he was going to knock her over. All went well though. Then he turned into the road runner, but the female didn't even move. I had to coax her into getting down from the bark. Maybe she was afraid of heights.
Mike

_______________________
"QUESTION:
WHEN WILL THERE BE PEACE ON EARTH?
ANSWER: WHEN THE EARTH FALLS TO PIECES!!"
Tupac Shakur