sling sexing with microscope...

kosh

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Sep 10, 2002
Messages
508
at what age do a T's sex organs become identifiable?
i have a friend who has access to a 400X microscope at work (works in a lab for Boeing).....at what size could a T's sex be determined with something like that?
could i possibly I.D. the slings i got from holley in a moult or two or do they have to be a couple of inches first before I.D. is possible??
just curious....:?
 

Code Monkey

Arachnoemperor
Old Timer
Joined
Jul 22, 2002
Messages
3,783
You can in theory id males at about 1+ to 1.5" by looking for the epiandrous fusilae on the area anterior to the epigastric furrow just on 40X to 100X with a good scope (you could probably even do it when they were smaller but the skins are nearly impossible to manipulate). You certainly don't need to go to 400X for this. That said, it's a lot harder in practice than in theory. I thought I had it down but, nah, some of my males turned out to be females so clearly I don't know what I'm doing yet :)

I'm going to wait until I can get an exuvium from a penultimate male and study the differences between epiandrous fusilae and normal hairs much better before I waste more time doing it.
 
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