I guess it would depend on the power of magnification in your telescope Spiders are like most creatures in that they're determined by genes to be either a male or female and are thus always so. I think it's just a matter of being able to physically see it. I could be wrong. I often am.
Well to bump this back up, and to elaborate. I just got a 20x lighted loupe, and was wondering at around what size the epiandrous fusillae develop, or if they are there at birth.
It depends what species the tarantula is. I use a USB microscope that has 10x, 60x,and 200x. I have looked at dozens of molts of spiderlings trying to determine how early I can identify the sex. I have an Iridopelma "recife" that just molted and is now 1.5" post molt. I positively ID'd the tarantula as a female. Her premolt size must have been close to 1". I also positively ID'd an E. cyanognathus at 1.5" as a female.
What you need to remember is some species don't begin to develop their sex organs until they reach a certain, undetermined, size. I have looked at some under the scope that had absolutely nothing visible and I would mark it as a probable male. I would check it again a molt or two later and all of a sudden it's a confirmed female. It would be alot of work but it would be nice to have a list of the earliest confirmed spermathecae of all species,what power is required to see it, and a photo for comparison to give a better idea of what to look for especially if you have never seen what it looks like to begin with.
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