A geniculata IMMATURE Male making sperm webs?

ManlyMan7

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Feb 17, 2011
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So I traded a few slings recently for a supposedly mature male A. geniculata. In the picture sent to me, I was looking to see it was a geniculata, and not a brocklehursti. But I saw a leggy Acantho, and my mind said, "mature".

Drove a few hours to meet the person, and the trade went well. Even before I arrived, they sent me texts asking if it was indeed a mature male. I wanted to wait til I go there as I was driving. But once I got there, it was cold, and we met in a parking lot, so I didn't want to expose the Ts to much cold. So again I didn't take the time to look too carefully. I think I thought that even if this leggy 7.5" boy wasn't mature yet, he would eventually mature. I could sort that out at home later.

Got home and confirmed that he does not appear to be mature. No bulbs, no tibia hooks. Tarsal claws still present.

IMG_2376a Male genic's pedipalps sm.jpg

IMG_2380a Tibia Hook no sm.jpg

Didn't think anything of it until last week when I caught this boy upside down under a silk tent, every bit of what I have observed numerous times with other male Ts I have. I tried very very carefully to remove his tub from its shelf and remove the lid to get pictures, but at the very last, he spooked and flipped over. Here he is under his tent, looking quite guilty for getting caught.

IMG_2373a Male genic under sperm web sm.jpg

My question to you is, has anyone ever heard of an immature male making sperm webs?

Also, I watched as my 8"+ female, apparently privy to his tub sitting on the lid of her glass aquarium, drummed no less than 12 times in 20 minutes.

But I was watching to see if he was drumming. He was shuffling subtly and more slowly, but only once did I see him do a full-body quiver, and never did I see him drum.

Will he mature? I sure hope so, and my girl apparently is eager as well.
 

lalberts9310

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This is quite interesting.. never hear of an immature male making sperm webs
 

ManlyMan7

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"ManlyMan7" from Moosejaw...

I think someone's being a clever carl!
Clever? How so?

---------- Post added 04-01-2015 at 12:36 PM ----------

So far, between here and another forum, I have not had anyone share that they have ever heard of this before either, including Tarantula Canada.
 

Blueandbluer

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Mar 17, 2015
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Clever? How so?

---------- Post added 04-01-2015 at 12:36 PM ----------

So far, between here and another forum, I have not had anyone share that they have ever heard of this before either, including Tarantula Canada.
It's a very amusing name for a post about a spider acting more "manly" than it is, don't you think?
 

ManlyMan7

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It's a very amusing name for a post about a spider acting more "manly" than it is, don't you think?
Amusing, but coincidental, not clever.

What won't be amusing is if he never fully matures. Not a huge loss as I traded to smithi slings for him, but I really would rather he mature.

I don't fault the seller, as he did ask me about this before the trade, but for various reasons (listed above), I didn't take the time to investigate this before finalizing the deal.

I guess it goes down as another opportunity to get some unusual experience. Last Spring, I had a Chaco male sent to me get lost in the mail for 40 days! A week ago, my 6" B. albopilosum girl molted and 1/4" chunk of new exo off the underbelly of her abdomen, allowing organs to protrude out and she bled about a teaspoon of hemolymph. I though she was a gonner, but 8 days later, she seems to be fine. I've had a heater malfunction last Fall, killing off (eventually) 5 Ts from my collection (including my 8" P. antinous girl), and I had a N. chromatus girl (4.5") get out of her tub and wander up into my G. rosea's tank (plexi lid has two uncovered holes in the middle that I have never needed to cover for her because she has never tried to escape in the 4 years I have had her), and she met her demise at the fangs of my rosie.

This boy is another one of those unusuals I can add to my list, I guess.

Sounds like a fun thread idea...your most unusual event in your T-room.

Still, would really like someone with this sort of experience to chime in and give me some advice or understanding...
 

Blueandbluer

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Apologies, I thought you might be pulling all 8 of our legs. It is That Day, you know.

It certainly isn't behavior I've ever seen.
 

ManlyMan7

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Apologies, I thought you might be pulling all 8 of our legs. It is That Day, you know.

It certainly isn't behavior I've ever seen.
No worries. It is the day for sure, but I have been using this name for 4 years now. And as you can see from my pics above, my last name happens to be Manly. A cool name to have (if you are man, that is).
 

lalberts9310

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That's clearly an immature male trying to make what seems to be a sperm web and clearly not an april fools joke, obviously he would only be able to lay the web and that's it.. but very unusual, you should keep us posted on when it molts and if it matures..

Damn sounds like you hit some pretty bad luck, especially the one getting lost for 40 days in the mail, and I'm receiving a bunch of Ts tomorrow! Now I'm getting paranoid!
 

ManlyMan7

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That's clearly an immature male trying to make what seems to be a sperm web and clearly not an april fools joke, obviously he would only be able to lay the web and that's it.. but very unusual, you should keep us posted on when it molts and if it matures..

Damn sounds like you hit some pretty bad luck, especially the one getting lost for 40 days in the mail, and I'm receiving a bunch of Ts tomorrow! Now I'm getting paranoid!
I don't see it as bad luck. The Chaco boy not only made it alive (and well) to my house (ironically, the day AFTER I left for vacation, but a friend helped with that), but he has since been sent back to the owner, and my 6.5" girl is SO SO FAT! I view it as a neat experience now. One of those, "Oh yeah? Well I received a Chaco boy alive who got lost in the male for 40 days." Bragging rights, eh?

As for the loss of the others, the Nhandu was actually not mine, but a friends (I was keeping her for him for a while). That wasn't easy to tell him, but he was gracious and even laughed about it (don't take him as heartless or cruel, he isn't). The really painful one was losing the P. antinous, as she has just days before turned dark with premolt (would have been her first molt in my care).

Actually, I consider myself quite fortunate on this collection. So many have been given to me. I have most of the ones I have wanted, and they are all females. Some are amazed at how I seem to luck out with females. What's more, I managed to do what others have not had any success with in Canada over the last few years.... breed B. smithi. Got a sac of 840 slings! And as of this morning, my A. metallica girl is sitting on a sac! YAY! Now for 4 other girls to drop their sacs (A. versicolor, B. emilia, G. pulchripes, and G. rosea RCF).

So this boy's unusual status isn't bad luck, at least not yet.
 

lalberts9310

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Good lord you would've thought it died in there, that's amazing, good luck with those sacs! Hope you get a lot of slings :p
 

Philth

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I don't see why it wouldn't mature, assuming it is a male. Although I've never seen a immature male build a sperm web before, that's strange. Was he trying to charge the palps, and did you notice a drop of sperm on the web at all ? I'm not much surprised by the female drumming though, they'll just do that sometimes, may not be related to the presence of the "male"


Later, Tom
 

ManlyMan7

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I don't see why it wouldn't mature, assuming it is a male. Although I've never seen a immature male build a sperm web before, that's strange. Was he trying to charge the palps, and did you notice a drop of sperm on the web at all ? I'm not much surprised by the female drumming though, they'll just do that sometimes, may not be related to the presence of the "male"


Later, Tom
Thanks Tom. I appreciate your attempt to answer the OP. When I caught him doing this, he was upside down under the web. Classic adult male.... But I had to try to get a pic, so I ever so gently tried to move the tub off the shelf and onto the floor to get pics. I had one end of the top and all was looking good for pics, but the other end snapped off, and he startled.

All that to say, I never witnessed the sperm drop on the web, nor the standing over the web to charge the palpal bulbs.

I have kept his tub out for better viewing if I ever catch him doing it again. I will try to take pics first through the plastic, but it won't be as clear.
 

Exoskeleton Invertebrates

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First can you take a photo from underneath to be sure that it is in fact a male? Second I see no indication of your spider being a Acanthoscurria geniculata. What I see is the formerly known brocklehursti possibly hybrid as some of us are calling it this days. But definitely not the true geniculata that I have own through my years. Again this is my opinion. Though it is interesting that if it is a male that it would be doing this kind of behavior and not being a mature male.



Jose
 
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ManlyMan7

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I hate to ruin the moment of this topic but it is April fools day today.



Jose
Jose, you mean you are calling my prank, or that you were pranking me on the brocklehursti? I hope the latter as I would not like this boy to turn out to be a brocklehursti. I looked at him as a mature male, saw a leggy dude, trusted the seller, and assumed he was mature. I was actually looking to see if he was (as a mature male) a genic or brock. I saw the stripes on the knees and was settled it was a genic.

As you will see tomorrow and the future on this, the day is coincidental. I am not pranking. I have posted this elsewhere, and have been conversing a bit with Amanda at Tarantula Canada for the last couple weeks on this.

I admit, it would make a great prank, but it is real. Trust me.

And cold blood, no, there are no palpal bulbs, but the act of standing over the sperm web and dabbing the bulbs was not observed because I interrupted the process trying to get a picture.
 

Philth

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First can you take a photo from underneath to be sure that it is in fact a male?
Jose
I agree, it would be nice to get a confirmation that it is in fact a immature male and not a female doing something weird.

Later, Tom
 

ManlyMan7

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First can you take a photo from underneath to be sure that it is in fact a male? Second I see no indication of your spider being a Acanthoscurria geniculata. What I see is the formerly known brocklehursti possibly hybrid as some of us are calling it this days. But definitely not the true geniculata that I have own through my years. Again this is my opinion. Though it is interesting that if it is a male that it would be doing this kind of behavior and not being a mature male.



Jose
I will try to get a ventral shot, but he is in a translucent plastic container, not a glass container. Won't be so easy.

That aside, I don't think I have seen such a leggy female of either genic or brock. He is 7.5" at present.

Jose, I know you know your stuff on genics vs brocks, and I have learned from you elsewhere. To the point that I can often spot a brock female or mature male at a glance. Not so easily with an immature male. Others have told me they thought he was genic.

Thank you for your input here.
 
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