Whip spider pair?

[Ew678]

I think the top one is the female and the bottom is a male

They are both Damon variegatus btw

 

[Albireo Wulfbooper]

They are both Damon variegatus btw

Thanks, I was going to ask, as many species cannot be sexed this way. Yes, top is female, bottom appears to be male.

 

[Sarkhan42]

Agree that first is female, and second is male.

 

[Sarkhan42]

Thanks, I was going to ask, as many species cannot be sexed this way. Yes, top is female, bottom appears to be male.

Do you mean that some species cannot be sexed ventrally? IME every species I've kept can be sexed ventrally, and I'm at around 25-26 that I've kept now.

 

[Albireo Wulfbooper]

Do you mean that some species cannot be sexed ventrally? IME every species I've kept can be sexed ventrally, and I'm at around 25-26 that I've kept now.

To my knowledge Acanthophrynus coronatus cannot be reliably sexed ventrally. I don’t deign to assume whether unfamiliar-to-me species can or not, but genus would surely be helpful with many others, would it not? I should note that I shouldn’t have said “many” in my original post - I was thinking about the hairs specifically when I wrote that, not about ventral sexing in general.

 

[Sarkhan42]

To my knowledge Acanthophrynus coronatus cannot be reliably sexed ventrally. I don’t deign to assume whether unfamiliar-to-me species can or not, but genus would surely be helpful with many others, would it not? I should note that I shouldn’t have said “many” in my original post - I was thinking about the hairs specifically when I wrote that, not about ventral sexing in general.

Acanthophrynus can be ventrally sexed fairly easily actually! I do it frequently with my juvenile holdbacks with high accuracy. I'll include some photos here, first is female, second is male.

You're definitely right about it being easier in some species than others however, especially with the red hair trick- but the rules generally remain the same when it comes to shape. If you can sex one species, you should be able to work out most others.

 

[Albireo Wulfbooper]

Acanthophrynus can be ventrally sexed fairly easily actually! I do it frequently with my juvenile holdbacks with high accuracy. I'll include some photos here, first is female, second is male.

You're definitely right about it being easier in some species than others however, especially with the red hair trick- but the rules generally remain the same when it comes to shape. If you can sex one species, you should be able to work out most others.

I trust that you can tell the difference - I certainly cannot!

 

[Ew678]

Does this method only apply to adults because the second one doesn’t have the pedipalps longer than the demure of the first leg, I know that not all species have can be sexed this way

 

[Ew678]

The second one is also smaller

 

[Albireo Wulfbooper]

Does this method only apply to adults because the second one doesn’t have the pedipalps longer than the demure of the first leg, I know that not all species have can be sexed this way

To my knowledge, pedipalp length is not a reliable indicator.

 

[Ew678]

To my knowledge, pedipalp length is not a reliable indicator.

Can you ventrally sex a subadult too or just adults?

 

[Albireo Wulfbooper]

Can you ventrally sex a subadult too or just adults?

The red hairs on phrynichids show up before adulthood but I’m not certain at what stage - @Sarkhan42 or @wizentrop can answer this.

 

[Sarkhan42]

The red hairs on phrynichids show up before adulthood but I’m not certain at what stage - @Sarkhan42 or @wizentrop can answer this.

I've sexed this way as early as 5th instar, but it could be earlier. I honestly haven't attempted it earlier, would be interesting to check. Generally that's about the instar that I sex all my amblypygids, outside of the extremely tiny ones.

 

[Sarkhan42]

I should also note that these are likely Damon medius, not variegatus.

 

[Ew678]

I don’t know which instar this is, I ordered it like this and it hasn’t molted since, if it is older than 5th instar then it is definitely a male. I’m also unsure if this is a variegatus

 

[Ew678]

That was the second one btw

 

[Sarkhan42]

I don’t know which instar this is, I ordered it like this and it hasn’t molted since, if it is older than 5th instar then it is definitely a male. I’m also unsure if this is a variegatus

Both of the ones you posted are certainly large enough to be sexed confidently, so no worries there