How do I know if I have a mature male Latrodectus?

[Nick12007]

I was just about to attempt introducing one of my Latrodectus variolus males with a female, but then I realized that I'm not sure how to tell whether a male is mature. Anyone have any suggestions?

 

[buthus]

Jordan is probably the one to ask regarding variolus. But, overall it is a good question. Sometimes it is hard to tell. I've had what I thought were adult males that were toward the end of their lives, suddenly molt one more time. Hesperus males usually (on average) reach about 3/4 leg span of adult females, were variolus can have leg spans that are almost or as long as adult females.
Try and force a final molt out of your male if you are not sure. Raise the humidity in it's container and offer a small to medium size cricket. If the male absolutely refuses to eat for some time, it may be ready for mating.
If you introduce the male to the female and he does not start any courtship "maneuvers" within an hour or so, she is either gravid or he is not mature.

 

[Nick12007]

thanks for the info, at the time that i posted this thread, i also sent a PM to Jordan, so I've got that covered