Tarantula Tibial Hook Development

[Conart]

Can we already see tibial hooks from a male tarantula that is still not mature? or they only develop them as they molt into a mature one?

 

[Teal]

Only mature males have tibial hooks, but I recall reading somewhere that there may be evidence of their existence on a pen-ultimate male? Like a widening of the leg in that area or something.

 

[Tenebrarius]

i haven't seen them develop they kind of just pop up after the final molt.

 

[Greasylake]

Only mature males will have tibial hooks, but not all species will develop them. If you were planning on using that feature to determine if a male is mature then I suggest you look for emboli instead. All mature males have emboli.

 

[Tenebrarius]

emboli

emboli, plural to embolus, meaning blood clot, related embolism? MMs have those?

well OP I guess they have blood clots but you might not be able to see those very well so i'd judge based off the palp bulbs.

 

[boina]

emboli

Emboli, from Greek emballein = to insert... .

OP, yes @Greasylake is right, not all males have hooks, but all males have emboli, and use them to insert the semen into the female, and they are also called palpal bulbs.

@Tenebrarius stop confusing the OP.

 

[Tenebrarius]

Emboli, from Greek emballein = to insert... .

OP, yes @Greasylake is right, not all males have hooks, but all males have emboli, and use them to insert the semen into the female, and they are also called palpal bulbs.

@Tenebrarius stop confusing the OP.

wrong root I guess.

 

[Conart]

Thanks for the info!
The ts that Im referring to by the way were g. pulchripes, hamorii, and vagans.

 

[Olan]

Those species all have hooks.

 

[AphonopelmaTX]

Emboli, from Greek emballein = to insert... .

OP, yes @Greasylake is right, not all males have hooks, but all males have emboli, and use them to insert the semen into the female, and they are also called palpal bulbs.

That makes so much sense considering the embolus is the part that is inserted into a female's gonopore! Do scientists have a Greek and Latin dictionary at all times or something?

The second part of the quote kind of bugs me though. The embolus is one part of three of the mygalomorph palpal bulb. The embolus is the tip that extends to the other two parts: the tegulum and subtegulum (the globular part) which are attached to the cymbium (the modified palpal tarsus). Palpal bulb is a collective term for the male sexual organ used for insemination and is not synonymous with embolus.