Will sterile males still make sperm webs?

zimbu

Arachnosquire
Old Timer
Joined
Nov 26, 2006
Messages
141
I guess the title kinda sums it up...

Basically, I got an adult male and female rosea 2 months ago from a friend, and I have no idea how old the male is. He's spun at least 1 sperm web since I got him, but I have no idea if he's too old to be fertile. About a half hour ago I tried pairing them and it looked like he achieved penetration.

Is this sorta behavior only going to happen with a fertile male or could he be old enough that he's actually just shooting blanks?

Thanks!
 

Talkenlate04

ArachnoGod
Old Timer
Joined
Feb 13, 2006
Messages
8,656
Well because of how little is known about MM's and how to determine if they are fertile or not, I don't see any reason to believe hes shooting blanks if hes still making webs. Pair them up and see what happens.
 

zimbu

Arachnosquire
Old Timer
Joined
Nov 26, 2006
Messages
141
Well because of how little is known about MM's and how to determine if they are fertile or not, I don't see any reason to believe hes shooting blanks if hes still making webs. Pair them up and see what happens.
Ok cool, well he just definitely went at it with gusto... they were paired up for about 10 minutes before she tried to make a meal out of him. Not entirely sure if he ever got a good penetration though. Should I try again tomorrow or wait for a few days and see if he makes another web?

If he DID manage to penetrate he'll make another web right?
 

Talkenlate04

ArachnoGod
Old Timer
Joined
Feb 13, 2006
Messages
8,656
If he DID manage to penetrate he'll make another web right?
Not always, sometimes there can be long periods between the production of a new sperm web, and if its an older MM then it could be weeks between.

If at any point in the pairing you saw the female make a sharp backward motion then he more then likely got a good insert.
 

zimbu

Arachnosquire
Old Timer
Joined
Nov 26, 2006
Messages
141
Not always, sometimes there can be long periods between the production of a new sperm web, and if its an older MM then it could be weeks between.

If at any point in the pairing you saw the female make a sharp backward motion then he more then likely got a good insert.
Yeah there was at least one jerk backwards, it might have broken the contact though. Try again soon mebbe?
 

DrAce

Arachnodemon
Old Timer
Joined
Feb 22, 2007
Messages
764
IF spiders have anything at all in common with any of their other animal counterparts (which may, or may not be true) then you're almost never only 'firing blanks'. It's only in the case of severe genetic/physical disorders that there are absolutely no viable sperm available.

If he's getting old, then the number of swimmers will drop - but there's still some swimmers in there. My hunch is that spiders are not like mammals at all, and would not suffer from this decreased potency at all: they have evolved to live specifically for this short period of their lives and will likely have good sperm over that short period. That's only a working hypothesis, though.

In short, Talken's right. Pair him up, he's bound to be packing a few good sperm.
 
Top