All,
In spite of my recent attempts at mating A. crassicauda, my largest fem has repeatedly refused to mate with any of the 3 males I've introduced into her enclosure. She's large and apparently, high-maintenance and very selective - not falling for any ol' bum from out the desert with a hot spermatophore! LOL
Today, after another failed attempt (today, she struck a male so hard with her metasoma that she actually knocked him across the substrate a good 5-7 cm!), for the first time, I removed her from her enclosure and after slipping and securing a shell vial over her metasoma (they don't much care for this restraining technique but it allows you to examine Androctonus in hand without an envenomation), examined her and found the reason for her reluctance to mate - she's already gravid!
There, lined up ventromedially, were the yellowish-colored embryos visible through the sternites.
Why didn't I notice this before? She's very active and a very voracious eater, often capturing and consuming 2-3 adult crickets at a time and will feed like this 1-2 times per week so, I just assumed her robustness and lateral distension was due to a healthy appetite. Unlike my other A. crassicauda, she's not shy and will scale the large rock in the center of her enclosure, sit atop it and consume 2-3 ADULT crix per feeding!
One of my newly acquired adult males also feeds like the female above. As a matter of fact, he has a half consumed adult cricket in his chelicerae and one in the "hand"!
What a great day!!!
Take care...Luc
In spite of my recent attempts at mating A. crassicauda, my largest fem has repeatedly refused to mate with any of the 3 males I've introduced into her enclosure. She's large and apparently, high-maintenance and very selective - not falling for any ol' bum from out the desert with a hot spermatophore! LOL
Today, after another failed attempt (today, she struck a male so hard with her metasoma that she actually knocked him across the substrate a good 5-7 cm!), for the first time, I removed her from her enclosure and after slipping and securing a shell vial over her metasoma (they don't much care for this restraining technique but it allows you to examine Androctonus in hand without an envenomation), examined her and found the reason for her reluctance to mate - she's already gravid!
There, lined up ventromedially, were the yellowish-colored embryos visible through the sternites.
Why didn't I notice this before? She's very active and a very voracious eater, often capturing and consuming 2-3 adult crickets at a time and will feed like this 1-2 times per week so, I just assumed her robustness and lateral distension was due to a healthy appetite. Unlike my other A. crassicauda, she's not shy and will scale the large rock in the center of her enclosure, sit atop it and consume 2-3 ADULT crix per feeding!
One of my newly acquired adult males also feeds like the female above. As a matter of fact, he has a half consumed adult cricket in his chelicerae and one in the "hand"!
What a great day!!!
Take care...Luc