Newbie Q's

[Simon Norfolk]

Hi all,

Is there any way to tell whether a female Chile Rose is Adult? I know Males develop palpal lobes but my spidey is about 2.5 inches body size and 3.5 inches leg span and (she) kinda looks like she might be all grown up. If not and she turns out to be a male that would be rubbish because then his name would be Molly and all the crickets would probably pick on him.

Without referring me to Schultz- does anybody know much about the 'feeding waltz'- why its done etc? I think its fascinating evolutionary behaviour- particularly when you consider that Tarantula's are virtually 100% instinct.

Thanx

Sy

[Mark Pennell]

Hi all,

Is there any way to tell whether a female Chile Rose is Adult? I know Males develop palpal lobes but my spidey is about 2.5 inches body size and 3.5 inches leg span and (she) kinda looks like she might be all grown up. If not and she turns out to be a male that would be rubbish because then his name would be Molly and all the crickets would probably pick on him.

Without referring me to Schultz- does anybody know much about the 'feeding waltz'- why its done etc? I think its fascinating evolutionary behaviour- particularly when you consider that Tarantula's are virtually 100% instinct.

Thanx

Sy

HI Simon
Yes you can sex your tarantula by using two methods, sexing by the cast skin or by ventral sexing, just do a search on this forum both are covered here.

Or post a picture of the underside of the tarantulas abdomen or inside the skin someone will be able to give you an idea.

The waltz your referencing to is the laying of a silk mat and spider table cloth so to speak, so the tarantula does not loose any bits of food and they can be easily gather up what gets dropped.

Also check out the beginners guides from the main page of this site.

Cheers
Mark

[Phil Rea]

Simon by adult, do you mean whether she is sexually mature? Quite possibly, but difficult to say for sure I would suggest.

The best way of telling for sure would be to have a look at the reproductive structures that she sheds when she moults

[Tom Forman]

very good question.
Hadn't even thought of this.

So phil, how do the organs look different on an unmature female to a mature female's reproductive organs?

Btw, I have only ever seen one of my T's do a waltz when feeding. It looked alot like a voodoo ritual dance, alot of twirling about too but no web has ever been produced in the process..
Oh yeah its a greenbottle blue that does the dance. I thought it was pretty cool the first time I saw him do it.

[Peter Lacey]

I saw my klugi do the dance but it was so slow and mechanical it didnt have much effect. The size of the webbing was good too - she likes a bit of webbing.
My little G. rosea didnt seem to produce webbing and did a spectacular dance, had the family laughing for ages. Not only did she turn around (you could hardly see her putting web down but on close inspection it was there) but legs were raised as if at some rave party. The fact we had dance music playing from the computer at the time just added to the effect.

[Phil Rea]

So phil, how do the organs look different on an unmature female to a mature female's reproductive organs?

They don't look as developed on immatures. Many sites have spermathecae picture galleries, showing dissected ones from adult specimens. Those can generally be used as a comparison

[Colin D Wilson]

They don't look as developed on immatures.

And to further this, the development rate of the spermathecae in the Grammostola genus doesn't seem to have a relation with the growth rate (or size) of the spider.
I've had spiders about two moults away from "adult size" showing fully developed organs and others from the same sac having no discernable development untill ultimate moult.