Male or Female???

[MrDeranged]

G. pulchra molt. What do you all think, male or female?

Scott

 

[rknralf]

FEMALE!!!!!

Scott,
Looks like a female to me.
What size is she?
Ralph

 

[dennis]

i'd say .... uuuuhm ... female

 

[MrDeranged]

3 1/2 inches +. The molt measured 3 1/2 so she's bigger now

Scott

 

[Henry Kane]

Ok, here's where I'm having trouble at this. I would have guessed male due to the lack of a visible (at least not visible to me) spermatheca or epigastric furrow. Do these only appear as that littel leaf like thing on "mature" females? Maybe that's why I'm having trouble...:?

Atrax

 

[conipto]

Maybe I'm lookin in the wrong place gary, but about the length of the book lungs below them, in the center, I see what appears to be that furrow.

Bill

 

[Henry Kane]

Hmmm...ok. I can see that but what I've observed before is the little white-ish leaf like protrusion in that same area. Again though, maybe it's just like that in mature females.

Atrax

 

[MrT]

Originally posted by Atrax
Ok, here's where I'm having trouble at this. I would have guessed male due to the lack of a visible (at least not visible to me) spermatheca or epigastric furrow. Do these only appear as that littel leaf like thing on "mature" females? Maybe that's why I'm having trouble...:?

Atrax

Atrax,
Thats a very good question. Cause if that is the case, that would explain why my N. vulpinus had such a pronounced bump on its epigastric furrow on the outside and only a small protrusion on the inside. It looked alot like Scotts shed above. I would have bet money it was a girl before seeing its exuvium.

Hopefully someone can "shed" some more light on the subject.

 

[Steve Nunn]

Originally posted by mrderanged
G. pulchra molt. What do you all think, male or female?

Scott

Hi Scott,
No sign of spermethecae yet, but an enlarged lip. Tough one at the moment. Can you post a decent pic of the other side??? Lets see if we can see any sign of epiandrous fusillae.

Cheers,
Steve

 

[Devildoll]

yeah... thats a tough pic to say....
i'd say male... but there is a little protrution.... could be light playing tricks though....

 

[Botar]

I'd say female, but I'm pretty new at sexing them.

Botar

 

[minax]

I would say male, simply because the females I have seen all had a pronounced cavity around the epigastric furrow; males have a bulge such as yours has. You might want to try a magnifying glass or microscope on low power. I used a mag. glass to sex my W.C. G.rosea. The epigastric furrow was inconclusive or damaged in the molt, so I looked and saw 2 little attenae looking objects that were obviously the spermathecae. This characteristic varies in looks from species to species. "Tarantulas" by Andreas Tinter shows some good photos of various species spermathecae. It does not show a picture of G. pulchra though, but maybe G. pulchra is similar to G. rosea in their spermathecae, If not the same?.....The book by Shultz said to look along the forward margin of the epigastric furrow for a protrusion or 2 fingerlike protrusions or 2 small swellings. The spermathecae becomes apparent at a very early age, by the 6 or 7th molt, though it does not tell you if the female is mature.

 

[devilman]

i could not even begin to guess at the sex of a T by the molt. i always thought you could tell by the number of joints on thier pedipalps....you guys are blowing my mind. i am truly impressed with you knowledge! someday i hope to be as well learned about my babies!!

 

[invertepet]

I'd also be inclined to say male - because I see very little and there does seem to be a dark triangular area above the vent that could prove to be the epiandrous fusillae.

But, it could be that the spermathecae of this spider simply aren't developed or pronounced. It's a tough call.

bill