Mesobuthus Martensii sexing tips

Nikos

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I would appreciate if someone could post a sexing key for mesobuthus martensii scorpions.

Sexing key for otehr scorpions are most welcome too!
 

skinheaddave

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M.martensii is relatively ambiguous in terms of sexual dimorphism. Though it has the standard differences in terms of pectine length and body shape, these differences are far less pronounced than some other species.

Cheers,
Dave
 

Kugellager

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I was under the impression the the chelas of the males was shorter then that of the females...at least it was in the small group I kept where I had 3 females and one male.

John
];')
 

genious_gr

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And *hum*hum* did you get them to breed??

And about what is their max size?? I got 5. Three juveniles and two that could be adults....

oh, what is chelas???
 

Kugellager

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Mine came to me gravid...two of my three females gave birth shortly after receiving them. The babies were easy to raise. The maximum size is around 2.5"(65mm) range. They are a short lived species as many buthids are.

The chela is the pincer/hand/claw.

The chela on the females I kept had longer fingers(thin part of chela) than that of the males.

John
];')
 

Nikos

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Have also noticed that some indivintuals have longer mesosoma and I'm under the impression that those are the males.
Need also to check if they also have shorter chelas too.

Thanks for the info!
 

Kugellager

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As far as the size/length of the metasoma and other body section ratios go; I did not notice anything that stood out. The only sexually dimorphic characteristics I noticed were the chela lengths...once you see one with the short chela's next to one with long chela's the differences will quickly become obvious. I leave it up to Dave to notice if there are any other sexual differences as mine are gone.

Dave has quite a few that he may be able to examine...maybe he could photograph them side-by-side.

John
];')
 

smalltime

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I think I have a pic of the two sexes together. Sorry for the blurriest pic on the board but it's a detail...:8o I think you can tell the chela of the female (left) is longer and seems to be more squared. The male's is bulbier also (BTW I'm not totally sure about the sexes either but the 'female' being twice as fat did convince me somewhat)
 

Nikos

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Thanks for the photo Smalltime!

I guess this photo what Kugelager was looking for.
It is obvious that the chela of the left animal (female) is longer that the chela of the right one (male).
 

Kugellager

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Yup..that's exactly what I was looking for...the photo shows the thinness of the female chela compared to that of the males very well.

John
];')
 

smalltime

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My females have been popping one after the other....
First few weeks old 2nd skin,
Second another mom with another few.... {D
 

genious_gr

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Nice!! Did they get very fat? I think I see the fem. in there getting fatty. If you have a pic pre-popping, it'd be great
 

Kugellager

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They are a great species to keep...I enjoyed mine when I had them...easy to raise from babies too.

John
];')
 

smalltime

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No tergite-bursting or anything.... I'll take some more pics of females and show you what I mean. Later though....
 

Nikos

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Nice photos!
I have a couple females that lookk like this one.
Have you seperated the youngs from their mother? or just left them in the big terrarium with all the other adults?

M.Martensii are the most "communal" specie, I've never witnessed a sign of aggression and I have around 20 (sub-adults and adults) of them in a 30x20x20 cm tank.
So I guess it would be "safe" to leave the young inside. or???
 

smalltime

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When the first female gave birth in the communal tank, I saw a male eating a young/egg, so the next day I removed the female with young. The young are easily dessicated IMO and because my tank is overall pretty dry I am glad I removed them. But my successrate so far isn't too great: 20 2nd skin young from 3 females (One mother ate her children and a few young died in shedding)
The next batch, from the mom you see above, I'll try to keep in the tank
 
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