Posted by invertepet on March 20, 2003 at 21:59:32:
In Reply to: Re: P. Ornata -PICS- posted by King Baboon on March 17, 2003 at 02:57:30:
It's too dark to tell, but this is how you tell Poecilotheria females and males:
White sclerotization of the female epigastric furrow tends to create a slight whitish line between the anterior book lungs. In males, those same book lungs will be closer together and the area between them will be pitch black due to the epiandrous fusillae that produce the sperm solution onto the spermweb the males use to fill their palpal bulbs and go off in search of females. I've sexed immature regalis, formosa, fasciata and ornata this way. It helps when you have several siblings of the same age to see the clear differences between the two sexes. :)
bill
