holconia immanis, sexing maybe?

[chrsgr]

hi. i've got 3 h.immanis
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v284/exploder/3-1.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v284/exploder/1-1.jpg
(cm left, inches right)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v284/exploder/2.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v284/exploder/4-1.jpg

the pedipalps all look the same, so i fear all 3 of them are female... or is it too early to sex them? help please?

[lucanidae]

I'd bet all females, Holoconia sp. begin to show palpal bulging fairly early, and at that size they should be showing it already. If you have males, you'll know by the next molt.

[chrsgr]

thank you for the answer. i feared that they're all female, since they have those 6 spots on their backs and males seem to have different spot patterns.

[Irks]

Since I was curious about the answer to this as well, I though I'd post my results. On the 4.75-5.75 inch molt (12cm-14.5cm), my male holconia became obvious. I couldn't tell before this, and couldn't even really tell looking at the molt vs. a female molt of the same size. The palps are obvious at this size, however.
http://www.geocities.com/daveirks/hmale.JPG

[lucanidae]

That picture isn't quite as clear as you might think. Female palps will get very hairy in this species on occasion, the crux of it is whether or not you see a very enlarged shiny black palp with no hair on it. Check the underside of the abdomen again, the sclerotized epigynum will be very clear if it is a female.

[Irks]

sorry, better pics here.
close up of male
http://www.geocities.com/daveirks/hpalps.JPG
underside male
http://www.geocities.com/daveirks/mhol.JPG
underside female
http://www.geocities.com/daveirks/fhol.jpg

I hadn't checked the underside in detail before this, so it's possible it could have been IDed earlier by that. The palps just jumped out at me after he molted this time :eek:

[lucanidae]

Oh yeah, that's a definite pair. The palps are huge but I am often tricked by furry palps females...thinking they are immature males. Those epigynum are a dead giveaway though...as you can see by the pics. Mating is REALLY easy, just put the two together, they can even cohabitate long term no problem.