GBB male or female?

[Boanerges]

One of my GBB's molted today and is now roughly 2". It has been looking female to me (still does) and I got some pics today to get some other opinions. Let me know what you guys think. Thanks!!

 

[Versi*JP*Color]

I think Male???

 

[Projecht13]

Looks female the micro pic shows the organ faintly

 

[AbraCadaver]

Yes, I agree with female.

 

[popcangenie]

looks female to me

 

[Ictinike]

I'm going to say male for two reasons..

The "whitened patch" near were the furrow would be and at 2" you should see quite a bit more spermathecae if they existed..

If possible could you get a tighter shot ventrally? You really cannot see the bristle composition down there but what bugs me is that apparent white dot that to me yells male.

 

[WARPIG]

Male.

PIG-

 

[AbraCadaver]

In the micro pics you see some very small spermathecae. You can barely see them, but males wouldnt have even the slightest idea of them, would they?

 

[Ictinike]

Those could be secondary organs or something entirely different..

What you think you see is spermathecae that appears to be some "shrek ears" however GBB have a fused set that is like a "flap" and while possibly they are not developed I still feel at that size it should be more noticeable than micro pic's and the faint impression that's what we are seeing.

I lost my only GBB awhile back and was a tiny sling so I cannot say from experience however images on GBB spermathecae will show you this fused spermathecae.

As with all of these it's only a guess so who's to say anyone is right but it's a 50/50 chance, no?

 

[Ictinike]

Since you took "scope" pics are you able to just take a good macro overhead of the area without scope or with scope just zoomed out?

Like what I did here for my A. sp Guatemala below? Of course this is a bigger specimen than 2" but not much hovering around 3" to maybe 3.5"



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[AbraCadaver]

On my GBB, the flap was fused, but when she was smaller the fuse was near transparent. It's kind of hard to explain, but you could see two little "mountains" like in the picture above, as well as the dome shaped fuse above that. I'll see if I can find the molt, soak it and take some decent pics of it, as I am terrible at explaining these kinds of things.

 

[Boanerges]

First let me say I really appreciate all the replies!! So thank you every one for your opinions so far!! I am currently typing this from my phone as it is my youngest sons 5th birthday today but when I get home I will see if I can zoom in on the pics. I am sure he/she will be flipped back over by then so I will not be able to get new ones but I did take a lot of pics other then the ones I posted so I will see if any are better also. Thanks again everyone!!

 

[Ictinike]

Abra, naa it's OK you don't have to soak and image it again I know exactly what your saying I just think it would be obvious at this size but again I'm speaking from other species I've sexed.

To Boan yea man go deal with RL and if and when you can.. 5th birthdays only come once Tell the little one Happy Birthday from all us here at AB

 

[AmbushArachnids]

IMO female. I have peeked at my 1" molts under a scope and in comparison. Male and female side by side look completly different.

 

[matthias]

Was that 2" leg span or with it scrunched up like that?

If I remember correctly GBB's spermathecae is one piece it is not the "rabbit ears"/two tubes kind, and is fairly well defined even at 2" diagonal leg span. But 2" leg span is awfully small to be seeing male genitalia. There is also another structure (I forget the name) that should be there if it is female.

What power were you using on the scope pictures? If it is anything over 40x total I'll all but guarantee male.

 

[Boanerges]

Was that 2" leg span or with it scrunched up like that?

If I remember correctly GBB's spermathecae is one piece it is not the "rabbit ears"/two tubes kind, and is fairly well defined even at 2" diagonal leg span. But 2" leg span is awfully small to be seeing male genitalia. There is also another structure (I forget the name) that should be there if it is female.

What power were you using on the scope pictures? If it is anything over 40x total I'll all but guarantee male.

It is probably 2" now. All scrunched up like that was it measured in at an inch and a quater. And the microscope is not a good one and that was at 40X. It's hard to get a good shot with a crappy microscope when they are smaller.

Could very well be a male. I have been tricked before.

 

[AbraCadaver]

I have only sexed one GBB, so Matthias is probably right on this one then.

Just to clarify what I meant further, as I've had some time to think, the spermathecae is indeed in one piece, but you can see some slight "ears" withing the domed structure, like the ones on your picture. But they can be tricky, these buggers, that's part of the fun! Next molt you will probably know for sure

Oh, and just to add.. My GBBs first molt in my possesion there was only a slight sign of spermathecae, and with her last molt it damn near punched me on the nose when I opened the molt. I have never seen anything like it, but then again, I haven't seen that many spidergenitalia

 

[Ariel]

My GBB is around the same size and I just had her molt sexed with a microscope and the spermathecae was VERY obvious. So I'm going to go ahead and say male on this one.

 

[Boanerges]

My GBB is around the same size and I just had her molt sexed with a microscope and the spermathecae was VERY obvious. So I'm going to go ahead and say male on this one.

Do you happen to have a pic I could see please? Just for my own reference.


Thanks again everyone for the replies!!

 

[Ictinike]

Oh, and just to add.. My GBBs first molt in my possesion there was only a slight sign of spermathecae, and with her last molt it damn near punched me on the nose when I opened the molt. I have never seen anything like it, but then again, I haven't seen that many spidergenitalia

What? I hear that's all the rave there in Scandinavia

LOL yea it's surprising when between molts the difference can "punch" you in the nose.. I've had a few that were on the fence and then next molt was like "whoa that was a bit too easy"...

I agree though for now since maybe it's still 50/50 the next will be more telltale lets hope and a better, definitive answer can be found!

Hope all was well with the family and birthday part OP!