Post ultimate male, sperm web.

Philth

N.Y.H.C.
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This male G. rosea was successfully bred with my female last year. About a year and a half, to 2 years after his last molt, he attempted a post ultimate molt. His palps got stuck in the molt, and the only way I saw to free him was to cut the old skin. He was kinda mangled,& one of his fangs dried bent inward. And after about a week he droped one of his palps, that was still stuck in the old skin(exuvia sp?). Now hes catching crickets(evan with his jacked up fangs), and today i found him making what looks like a sperm web:? What the deal, whens he gonna die? Another interesting thing i noticed, was that his carapace totally lost the purple"rosey" color after the post ultimate molt. Its almost bald and jet black. Check him out!
 

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danielr6543

Arachnosquire
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I wouldnt think it would live much longer. I have heard a story about a long liveing L. Parahybana male that has lived for about 4 years or so. After the males mature if they live any longer when they molt again they must lose the pedipalps for some reason. If i remember correctly Kelly Swift had an article about a male he had that did the same. Im not to sure though. Its cool that your male rosey has lived this long. Mine only lived about 4 months after its ultimate molt. By the way great picture .
 

Telson

Arachnodemon
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If it's still got one palp and it's trying to load it, you may as well try to get the record for oldest male T to father a sack!:D
 

Joy

Priestess of Pulchra-tude
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Originally posted by Philth
His palps got stuck in the molt, and the only way I saw to free him was to cut the old skin. He was kinda mangled,& one of his fangs dried bent inward. And after about a week he droped one of his palps, that was still stuck in the old skin(exuvia sp?).

--Males usually lose both palps when they undergo a post-ultimate molt. I had one male B. albopilosum who retained a single palp, but the embolus was very mangled. Can you get a close-up shot of your guy's remaining palp, by any chance? I'd be interested in seeing if he really were able to mate post-molt. My guy was always trying, for the first year following his post-ult molt anyway, but he just didn't have what it took!

Now hes catching crickets(evan with his jacked up fangs), and today i found him making what looks like a sperm web:? What the deal, whens he gonna die?

--He may well live another year, or even two. Of the two males I've had who survived post-ultimate molts, one lived two years, and the other two years and four months. The thing that seems to be critical IME is nutrition. As long as they're eating, they seem to go on and on, but inevitably there comes a point when they stop eating. It's been my experience that they weaken and die soon after this point, whether as cause or simply an effect of aging I couldn't say.

Joy
 

Philth

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I dont think he can breed anymore. Im not sure if i was clear in my last post. This palp that he still has is still stuck in the old skin. I had to cut around it to free him,he was dragging the skin around becuase he couldnt pull it out. Here is a pic of it. It is kinda mangeld, and i did not see him try to fill it after he made the sperm web.
 

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sinsect

Arachnosquire
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Aug 31, 2003
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I have a Rosie male that will probably never die. rosea males are sort of notorious for ditching the odds, and escaping death for extended periods of time. I agree that he's probably unable to breed after the molt. I'd just try to keep him comfortable and hope he sticks around for awhile longer, if only as an anomoly :)
 
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