Sexual dimorphism in H maculata

[Stephen jordan]

Hi, I have just got myself two juvenile H maculata and the diference in the two is clear, but I cannot find anything solid, ie: picture references to ventral area so I can have a look and try to sex them both. I think I have a male and female, as the possible male is a smoky grey colour and the other is much much lighter in appearance. I guess I'l have to wait for amolt to be sure but I was wondering if any of you guys knew anything?
Thanks
steve

[Colin D Wilson]

Not really notice differences myself through sex at juvenile.
I did notice that after a couple of moults when large slings (a long time ) some darkened a little and these were kept in tubs with a darker green decor ...possible colour change to fit in????

[Stephen jordan]

Thats interesting! One of mine is about 8cm legspan and the other probably around 6cm, the smaller of the two is a very light sandy colour where as the other larger one is a smoke almost gun metal grey. I wonder if it changes colour next molt? I rehomed it and its now in a much lighter enclosure. Clever creatures spiders, I'll be taking a video of my Haplopelma albostriatum using a trapdoor to hunt later. Thanks for the input Colin, I'll be interested to see how it and the other on molts out next time.

[Joanna Pendleton]

Interestingly enough, I've just been having a random pondering in relation to sexual dimorphism. I notice in pictures of adult X immanis, there are differences between male and female colouring and was wondering how early this is apparent and then began to digress slightly on wondering what else I can find out. However searching google doesn't seem to help much as I keep getting sent to wikipedia! Does anyone know of any interesting articles on sexual dimorphism in particular species or just an over view of it in Ts as whole, perhaps listing several species?

Thank you
J x

[Colin D Wilson]

sexual dimorphism really comes in different aspects...size, colour, pattern etc so there's masses of info concerning this if it's not fine tuned when you search.
what you could do for a starting point is use Google to search for "sexual dimorphism theraphosidae" ... the first entry in the results list should be Scholarly articles...click that and then trudge through the different articles and publications to find info you can use.

[Stephen jordan]

Thanks Colin, Always helps knowing exactly where to look for this information! I think I possibly have male H maculata & P murinus. Thank you for you're help