- Joined
- Dec 26, 2006
- Messages
- 593
A while ago I took my A. minatrix's freshly molted exoskeleton to my college's science building with the intention of trying to sex it using one of the nifty microscopes on the biology floor. I went to one of the professors, who's an expert on invertebrates (more specifically wolf spiders), asking him for permission to use the stereo microscope in the entomology storage room. At the time I thought "Hmm, maybe he'll actually help me sex it, since I'm not too great at doing it myself, and he's an expert on spiders," and sure enough, he offered his help.
First he asked me what species it was, and I replied "It's an Avicularia species." He stared blankly at me for a second and said, "So... is it a pinktoe?" I wondered if he would've asked that even if I hadn't said it was an Avic. first lol.
So we went to the microscope and I took out my copy of The Tarantula Keeper's Guide and flipped to the sexing section for reference. I didn't expect to have to use it at first, but when I looked up, I saw the professor pinning the exuvium and viewing the outer shell. Of course, I was like:
"Um, shouldn't we moisten the abdomen and open it up?" But he replied with something like "Nah, you can't tell the sex right now, it's too small." (The molt was 2" - not too small at all.) I then insisted that it may be possible to tell the sex, but instead, he told me to bring in the live specimen and he could more accurately sex it, which made absolutely no sense to me lol. I couldn't believe that this man was a spider expert. I mean, I suppose I understand if his area of expertise is more revolved around wolf spiders, but aren't all spiders' anatomy basically about the same? Anyway, I took my then-destroyed exuvium back and left the building half-disappointed and half-amused that a 19-year-old student knew more about tarantulas than the spider Ph.D.
First he asked me what species it was, and I replied "It's an Avicularia species." He stared blankly at me for a second and said, "So... is it a pinktoe?" I wondered if he would've asked that even if I hadn't said it was an Avic. first lol.
So we went to the microscope and I took out my copy of The Tarantula Keeper's Guide and flipped to the sexing section for reference. I didn't expect to have to use it at first, but when I looked up, I saw the professor pinning the exuvium and viewing the outer shell. Of course, I was like:
"Um, shouldn't we moisten the abdomen and open it up?" But he replied with something like "Nah, you can't tell the sex right now, it's too small." (The molt was 2" - not too small at all.) I then insisted that it may be possible to tell the sex, but instead, he told me to bring in the live specimen and he could more accurately sex it, which made absolutely no sense to me lol. I couldn't believe that this man was a spider expert. I mean, I suppose I understand if his area of expertise is more revolved around wolf spiders, but aren't all spiders' anatomy basically about the same? Anyway, I took my then-destroyed exuvium back and left the building half-disappointed and half-amused that a 19-year-old student knew more about tarantulas than the spider Ph.D.
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