# Grammostola pulchra Moult - With Pictures



## mcluskyisms (Jan 24, 2010)

So this wee guy moulted yesterday which is surprising seen as though his last moult was mid way through January... Anyway I thought I would post some pictures of him and also show you how easy it is to sex smaller tarantulas without needing a USB microscope. All you will need to have is a digital camera (preferably with a macro setting) Although it doesn't really matter if it doesn't. There is a better & far more detailed sticky on sexing tarantulas by Lisa (garlicpickle) which can be found by clicking *here.* This thread is just a quick pictorial to show how easy it is to sex tarantulas at smaller sizes.

First off you need to remove the moult, obviously wait until the tarantula has actually evacuated it... Its better to try and retrieve it sooner rather than later though as if it gets too dried up or dismantled by the tarantula you haven't much chance of it being any use. 










Once you have got your moult out I find sometimes its easier to open the area you need to look at if you give it a light mist with a spray bottle. The area of interest is between the anterior book lungs.










The area marked in red is where the tarantulas sexual organs are, if this tarantula was female you would see a protruding flap of skin called a Spermathecae. That would indicate the tarantula is female, although as you can see on the above photo this tarantula doesn't have anything on the spot which is arrowed so therefore it is male. Here's a close up of the area below.










You'll find that even at smaller sizes this technique is fairly easy to do, this little _Grammostola pulchra_ was just under 2.5" leg span. 










And here he is now sat near his moulting mat, all he needs to do now is stretch out and harden up and he will be ready for his first meal since moulting in about a week or so.








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## jaykickboxer (Feb 11, 2008)

Good thread shame u don't have a female for comparison


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## mcluskyisms (Jan 24, 2010)

jaykickboxer said:


> Good thread shame u don't have a female for comparison


Yeah, shame I dont have a female full stop. Could've done with keeping the other four slings I sold last year, Haha.

Nah, this isnt meant to be a tutorial or whatever, Lisa's thread covers sexing properly. This is just more about showing how you can sex them from smaller sizes without the need of a USB microscope.

: victory:


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## GRB (Jan 24, 2008)

How reliable is the techique on smaller specimens?

Just in araneomorph spiders I haven't seen people sex them using the epigyne at sub adult stages. I've not had a chance to try this on my smaller specimens and confirm upon adulthood - I have sexed some but they are still immatures.


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## mcluskyisms (Jan 24, 2010)

GRB said:


> How reliable is the techique on smaller specimens?


Well this technique works on anything around the 1" LS size and over I find, that being said it can be difficult to open out the epigynal area when they are so small although it can usually be done with a pair of needles or pins and a bit of patience. 



GRB said:


> Just in araneomorph spiders I haven't seen people sex them using the epigyne at sub adult stages. I've not had a chance to try this on my smaller specimens and confirm upon adulthood - I have sexed some but they are still immatures.


I wouldn't really know about sexing other Arachnids apart from Theraphosids to be honest with you Grant. Maybe in future after you've had chance to try this on a few different species you'll maybe be able to shed some light as to whether using this technique feasible or not.


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## GRB (Jan 24, 2008)

I should say, sexing at immature with the "epigyne" wouldn't work since it's simply not there, what I meant to say was from moults a la tarantulas.


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## garlicpickle (Jan 16, 2009)

it works with other mygalomorphs Grant, I was able to sex my Linothele megatheloides at about 2".


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## GRB (Jan 24, 2008)

garlicpickle said:


> it works with other mygalomorphs Grant, I was able to sex my Linothele megatheloides at about 2".


Cool. I had heard about it when reading that ventral sexing article by Rick West IIRC, but hadn't had oppertunity to try it myself as none of my spiderlings have yet matured barring the H.incei and C.fasciatum, which were pretty easy to sex without looking at moults.


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## Grimbo007 (Sep 4, 2010)

Female Moult


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## mcluskyisms (Jan 24, 2010)

Awesome pictures Grimbo, You've captured the phaeynx muscle, sucking stomach and spermathecae perfectly. My only wish is that you may have labelled them. Beautiful shots though.

:2thumb:


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## Grimbo007 (Sep 4, 2010)

Soz did'nt have time lol


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