Pre-molt time relevant to Sex?

[dannyboypede]

Hello arachnoreaders,
I have been doing some thinking and hypothesizing. I know that females of many species are generally slower growers than males. Is it possible that the time that a spider spends in Pre-Molt could also be used to "guess" the sex? The reason why I ask, is because I have an OBT sling that has not eaten in two weeks. For a 1 inch sling of this species, I would have expected it to be in pre-molt for about 10 minutes . I am keeping it at 74-76 degrees, which I'm sure is a reason why it is spending so much time in pre-molt. I am hoping that "OBI" (the spider's name) is a female, and that is contributing to the extended pre-molt. So, is this possible?
Thanks,
Dan

 

[xhexdx]

I don't think it has anything to do with gender, nor should it be used as a method to guess.

 

[dannyboypede]

Oh, okay. So it is more long-term growth?

--Dan

 

[xhexdx]

I'd stick with the typical methods of sexing...

Epiandrous fusillae and spermathecae sexing.

You could make a blanket statement saying females don't grow as fast as males, but there are still exceptions - it's really not an accurate way of determining gender.

 

[Lorum]

There are a lot of factors involved in growth rate. It could be useful sometimes to try to guess the gender of one spider (I have had confirmed males growing considerably faster than the females), but if someone would want to sell me a T saying it is a female based on the growth rate, well, you know...

Also, the time a T spends in pre-molt is not useful to sex it. I could write about examples, but I think I have said enough. So, if you want to know the gender of the spider, do as Joe says and use the traditional methods. They are 100% accurate (if well applied), but you will have to wait until your spider is bigger than now.

 

[dannyboypede]

I figured it wasn't an accurate, it was just a theory backed by very little evidence. I will try to sex it by molt unless it destroys it. I suppose there is a reason why there are trusted sexing methods.
Thanks for the info,
Dan

 

[briarpatch10]

I figured it wasn't an accurate, it was just a theory backed by very little evidence. I will try to sex it by molt unless it destroys it. I suppose there is a reason why there are trusted sexing methods.
Thanks for the info,
Dan

Dan, We are all here to learn