Quote:
Originally Posted by Steffen
Hi Alex.
If you don't have a male either, I asume yours are wc aswell. In that case, how do you know for sure they can't store sperm?
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Hi Steffen,
you are right, I don´t know for sure
. But both females have given birth about 1 1/2 years ago and none of them has gotten significantly fatter since. According to the gestation period of other buthids (for example L. mucronatus) I doubt that L. infuscatus is gravid more than 6 - 7 months. They may have given birth several times and the last time in my possession, yes. But I doubt that it happens with two females which seem to be not too old as they are very agile and healthy and their exoskeletons don´t look shabby as it´s often the way with old specimens.
There´s no reference for any Lychas sp being able to reproduce parthenogenetically in literature.
Oliver, yes, the Lychas sp from the Philippines turned out to be L. infuscatus. Sorry for having forgotten to inform you about it. The Chaerilus sp from Borneo is C. variegatus, by the way.