Q>sexing pokies..

arachnofitz

Arachnosquire
Joined
Jan 14, 2011
Messages
83
hi.. ive been keeping some pokies for quite a while now.. ive been basing my sexing methods thru the net(ventral sexing i mean)(male=tiny white spot if not, bald spot; fem no spot) so far its been really reliable however, my P.formosa just molted when i checked the skin, the spermathecae was very clear, yet wheni ckeckd her ventrally, a saw a small white bald spot was, same as my P.fasciata.. i was thingking he was a male due to the spot but when it molted.. it showd a spermathecae..considering there my pokies are already around 4-5 inches...

hmmm.. do they change sex??

sorry if i might have used the wrong terms.. my batery is about to run out.. hehe
 

xhexdx

ArachnoGod
Old Timer
Joined
Jul 20, 2007
Messages
5,357
You're probably seeing the opening of the furrow and thinking it's the dot you're referring to.

In a 4-5" spider, the dot would be much easier to spot if it were male, and the furrow would be much more developed in a female. A mature female's furrow will still have that 'shine' that I believe you are seeing, but it will be more crescent-shaped (horizontally oriented) than the dot would be if it were male.

I hope I explained this clearly enough.
 

arachnofitz

Arachnosquire
Joined
Jan 14, 2011
Messages
83
thanks a lot sir...ur probably right.. the thing is, at thier sizes, the difference between the females furrow and the males spot are already clear..differentiating them is very easy but their sexes change after molting.. huhu
 

jayefbe

Arachnoprince
Old Timer
Joined
Sep 20, 2009
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1,351
Tarantula sex does not change over it's lifetime. Not sure if that's what you were indicating happened, but I thought I would clarify. I agree with xhexdx.
 

Bigboy

Arachnoprince
Old Timer
Joined
Nov 18, 2004
Messages
1,234
Could someone explain the 'dot' he described? I'm a bit foggy on that.
 

Hobo

( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
Staff member
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Jul 27, 2009
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2,208
I think they are talking about the epiandrous fusillae, which are very distinct on pokies and will appear like a dot.
 

arachnofitz

Arachnosquire
Joined
Jan 14, 2011
Messages
83
thATS it!! hobo just mentioned it.. i white small spot i meant is the "epiandrous fusillae".. sorry about not being able to clarify..

---------- Post added 01-26-2012 at 12:24 AM ----------

thaks a lot u guys.. im probably going to buy a pocket microscope.. that should make things less confusing.. what do you guys thinks??
 

arachnofitz

Arachnosquire
Joined
Jan 14, 2011
Messages
83
sorry about that.. hehehe.. i wonder though.. whats atleast the best size to sex a pokie dorsally??
 

Kungfujoe

Arachnoknight
Old Timer
Joined
Oct 29, 2011
Messages
266
Thanks for posting this thread; the picture comparisons are very helpful..
 

arachnofitz

Arachnosquire
Joined
Jan 14, 2011
Messages
83
yup... thanks for the info.. followup question thou.. hehe
whats the best size to sex a pokie ventrally?/ good enough to get atleast and 80-100% accuracy.. hehehe
 

groovyspider

Arachnoknight
Joined
Aug 18, 2010
Messages
255
any chance someone could do a p.ornata for me to compare mine to... no camera and my phone is out of service :/ it would be much appreciated
 
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