- Joined
- May 22, 2007
- Messages
- 80
Today, my 5 inch DLS juvenile Lasiodora parahybana molted. After it was done pulling out and on its back, I carefully removed the exuvium to to determine the gender of the spider. As many of us know, females can typically be identified by the presence of of several organs, especially the spermathecae. I looked, unfolded, looked, lightly scraped, looked and looked but I could not locate the telltale flap.
My heart sank. My suspected female tested out as a male. This perplexed and astounded me, as the upside down spider in its enclosure bore an extremely distinct gonoslit, with that bright white shiny tissue showing proudly.
I couldn't believe it. I even reviewed it with a friend and fellow hobbyist, and he too agreed, the exuvium belonged to a male. I was bummed out. As typical, I longed for a female, as they are much bulkier and live several times longer.
Later that day, I was discussing the spider with another friend and soon-to-be hobbyist. I picked up the molt, and in a moment of desperation, I shined my cellphone's LED flashlight through the epigastric plate. I saw that it appeared to show something I didn't see before: spermathecae. I took a piece of white paper and held it over the LED and placed the epigastric plate right over the brightest region on the paper and peered at it with a 10x magnfying lens. This is what I saw:
Spermathecae! Bursa copulatrix! Uterus externus! My L. parahybana is a female! I jumped up and down, pumped fist, all of that.
So what's the point of this story? If at first you don't see spermathecae, shine a light (covered with paper! I am not responsible if you get blinded) through the molt and take a lens to it. It may reveal much more than you thought before.
Thanks for reading,
Dan
My heart sank. My suspected female tested out as a male. This perplexed and astounded me, as the upside down spider in its enclosure bore an extremely distinct gonoslit, with that bright white shiny tissue showing proudly.
I couldn't believe it. I even reviewed it with a friend and fellow hobbyist, and he too agreed, the exuvium belonged to a male. I was bummed out. As typical, I longed for a female, as they are much bulkier and live several times longer.
Later that day, I was discussing the spider with another friend and soon-to-be hobbyist. I picked up the molt, and in a moment of desperation, I shined my cellphone's LED flashlight through the epigastric plate. I saw that it appeared to show something I didn't see before: spermathecae. I took a piece of white paper and held it over the LED and placed the epigastric plate right over the brightest region on the paper and peered at it with a 10x magnfying lens. This is what I saw:
Spermathecae! Bursa copulatrix! Uterus externus! My L. parahybana is a female! I jumped up and down, pumped fist, all of that.
So what's the point of this story? If at first you don't see spermathecae, shine a light (covered with paper! I am not responsible if you get blinded) through the molt and take a lens to it. It may reveal much more than you thought before.
Thanks for reading,
Dan
