Male Regalis question

[Mister T]

I have read that male pokies in general don't obtain the tibial hooks when mature.How obvious are the bulbous ends of the pediplaps on this species when a male reaches maturity??
I have a 6" male Regalis here that is eating up a storm after his latest molt and was hoping that molt would be his maturing one.He's hard to get a clear look at as he runs for cover at the slightest movement,but as far as I can tell his palps haven't changed yet.

 

[Talkenlate04]

The change is very obvious here is the MM I have now. When a male Regalis matures he will also lose a lot of his colors and become more grey overall.

 

[Mister T]

hmm..yea my Male hasn't lost that much color yet.He is still maintaining a bit of the black,although nowhere near as much as a Female would have.
After the Maturing Molt...do they generally lose most interest in feeding?The only MM I have had so far is a Semanni...and he sure wasn't all that interested in mealtime after maturing

 

[Talkenlate04]

After a maturing molt most males will accept food for a few weeks then slowly over time they lose their desire to eat and worry only about breeding, and so begins the downfall of the male. I have found the more you can get the male to eat in the beginning the longer he lives overall.
I still have a MM Rosea that is 15 months mature and he is still eating and making webs, so anything is possible. But with pokies they tend to not make it more then a year after the maturing molt. 5-8 months is a good average id think. All my Regalis MM's have died before the 7 month mark, but only cause they got munched on by their mates

 

[sparular]

For me there are two big signs to look for (these can be seen in the pictures above). Dorsally; the almost complete lack of light striping (lengthwise) on abdomen that is present in females and juveniles. Ventrally; the red (or pinkish) bulbs at the ends of the palps. In my opinion, these are the most striking and uniquely male characteristics.
Spar

 

[Mister T]

The red/pinkish area on the underside of the of the palps...only visible with a Mature Male? Mine is not showing those yet ...

 

[Talkenlate04]

Only seen on a MM yes. Post a picture of your "girl".

 

[Mister T]

I know the T is a Male...but was wondering if he may have matured due to his overall size...and yea...I was really hoping so too lol.I have 2 BIG girls waiting on my males,and this guy is the largest.
The fact of pokies not having tibial hooks had me wondering about the palps and how noticeable they would be once mature.The ventral pic and Sparular pointing out the red/pinkish area of the plaps to be looking for makes it simple.
Thanks guys....I've learned something new today lol

 

[cacoseraph]

my MM regalis would ONLY eat MM Blatta lateralis. it was the weirdest feeding thing i have seen yet. he would literally climb over other species and pounce on MM lateralis. i tried B. dubia, B. discoidalis, hissers, lobsters, meal worms, wax worms and other forms of lateralis (mature female, immature) and the ONLY thing it would eat was MM lateralis. crazy spider.

 

[Talkenlate04]

Ha wow that is weird. Mine only takes male dubia and ignores females. So would your MM never kill the other offered roaches and only go for the Blatta lateralis? That's odd and interesting, I would have loved to see that.

 

[cacoseraph]

Ha wow that is weird. Mine only takes male dubia and ignores females. So would your MM never kill the other offered roaches and only go for the Blatta lateralis? That's odd and interesting, I would have loved to see that.

after i mailed that male off i took out like 6 roaches and wormthings from his cage. it was very strange. i wish i had video'd it or something. i even tried to trick him and put some lobster nymphs that should weigh about as much as the MM lateralis... but then as often is the case, the spider was smarter than me =P