Sex my Aphonopelma sp please!

Sterlingspider

Arachnobaron
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Yes, I bought ANOTHER one. :p Based on the same criteria (spinnarette colour, diagonal line on the
metatarsus) I'm calling this another A. sp "Guatemala".



It's very slightly larger then the one I got a few weeks ago (also ~4") and based on the undercarriage
looking completely different I'm hoping this one's a señorita (or at least that one of them is anyway).



Post discussing the sex (and species) of the first one here:
http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/showthread.php?t=166781
 
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Hobo

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I actually thought your first one was female.... I don't remember if I ever posted though...

This one looks male in comparison with the other. I wouldn't know what to think if I saw it without the other as reference.
 

Sterlingspider

Arachnobaron
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I'd put good money on this one being male.
Then would you say the other one is female?

Note: admittedly I stink at ventral sexing but I was sure my 1st one was a female before I posted the original sexing pic, based on what I thought I understood about ventral sexing I too would have called this male. Now I have NO idea.

Clearly they are completely different, but which is which I just don't know anymore.
 
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Teal

Arachnoemperor
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This one posted here, and the one you are linking to - both look male to me.
 

Teal

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Well, I'm no expert LOL I am looking at the furrow area (is it only called that on females? lol)

After looking MUCH closer... the book lung positioning is different, so I would say one is male and one is female... but I wouldn't be sure which.

Just between those two pictures.. I'd guess this one is female, and the other is male.
 

Sterlingspider

Arachnobaron
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Well, I'm no expert LOL I am looking at the furrow area (is it only called that on females? lol)

After looking MUCH closer... the book lung positioning is different, so I would say one is male and one is female... but I wouldn't be sure which.

Just between those two pictures.. I'd guess this one is female, and the other is male.
I'd be a bit iffy on using booklung positioning without new photos as the other T was WAAAAAAY skinny when I got it. I'm pretty sure it had JUST shed.
I'll have to get some pics now (19 days and 24 crickets later) to compare.
 

aliceinwl

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This one looks male, but the one in the links really looks female to me.

Hope you don't mind, but I pulled you photos and outlined the relevant features:



The arch made by the epiandrous fusillae is really obvious in the spider posted on this thread and absent on the linked spider. This spider's first book lungs are also more parallel while the linked spider's are more flared.

-Alice
 
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Teal

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I'd be a bit iffy on using booklung positioning without new photos as the other T was WAAAAAAY skinny when I got it. I'm pretty sure it had JUST shed.
I'll have to get some pics now (19 days and 24 crickets later) to compare.


I'm not going by that 100%, of course. But differences must be noted, if you're trying to figure out what's what :)

Newer pictures, with the T more well fed, probably would be helpful... but you gave us THOSE pictures to go by, so that's what I'm doing :p
 

Sterlingspider

Arachnobaron
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Newer pictures, with the T more well fed, probably would be helpful... but you gave us THOSE pictures to go by, so that's what I'm doing :p
Because s/he is the ginchiest Geist actually came out and climbed a wall right when I needed her/him to.

Just to be clear: this is a shot of the ORIGINAL tarantula with considerably more weight on. This is not the same T as the top of this post.

 

Sterlingspider

Arachnobaron
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This one looks male, but the one in the links really looks female to me.

Hope you don't mind, but I pulled you photos and outlined the relevant features:
(snipped for size)
The arch made by the epiandrous fusillae is really obvious in the spider posted on this thread and absent on the linked spider. This spider's first book lungs are also more parallel while the linked spider's are more flared.

-Alice
aliceinwl, that is totally awesome and exactly the kind of thing I need to see more of. Those are the structural differences I was looking at in the first place and I was starting to wonder if I was going crazy.
I've just linked a fresh pic of the linked spider in a well fed state so the positioning of the booklungs and should be more easily compared.
 

Teal

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Yup, I am still saying that one is male :)

And aliceinwl, awesome depiction in those two pictures! VERY helpful!
 

Hobo

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Well you know what, part of the problem with ventral sexing from pics (IMO) is not so much the method, but the means.

When you are looking at a tarantula right in front of you, at least with some of the larger Ts, it's much easier to see the necessary, tell-tale signs of it being male or female. With pictures, it's more of a guess than usual, since you are looking at a picture with a fixed angle, perhaps too much or too little a flash, or some other distortion that may sway your guess away from the actual sex of the tarantula!

For example, if you would allow me to post 2 pictures here:


Both these pics are from the same individual. The second one ended up looking far more "male" than the first, and all it took was a slightly different angle to do so. Tricky business!

Now with your situation, assuming they are indeed of the same species (and the same size), I would say you most likely have a pair! I actually asked a relavent question in another thread of mine - whether or not a minute difference in the ventral areas of two individuals of the same species at the same size would mean different sexes.

Err... to conclude: Your two Ts, if I saw them each seperately, I would say they are both male. But if they are indeed the same species, about the same size, and depending on the answer to my question, you might have a pair - with your first T looking more "female" than the other.

Sorry if this is too long winded or doesn't make sense, but I've jsut realized it's 4am where I live, and I really should be getting some sleep!
 
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