Lampropelma violaceopes ventral sexing

[Nicolas Charrière]

Hello there!

I've taken a ventral picture of my 5 cm (BL) Lampropelma violaceopes. Is it possible to say from this picture if it's a male or a female?

I've not been able to get the molt, unfortunately (either it's totally destroyed or buried deep inside the burrow). Is it possible to have an accurate answer from ventral sexing? Or is it doubtful?

Thanks a lot for your answers!

[Adam Beynon - Jones]

It looks very much male.

This is an interesting read http://www.birdspiders.com/faq_sex.php

Although I often don't trust ventral sexing 100% it can be very accurate/obvious depending on experience and the species/age/specimen. Photo's can be deceiving, but I'd say if done correctly, there is a far far better than 50/50 chance of accuracy. I always like to check with a moult, although some really are extremely obvious ventrally.

I'm not saying I'm 100% right in my estimate, but I'm sure enough to state it here based on that picture....

Edit - Perhaps rather than to say I am very sure it is male, it would be better to say that I HIGHLY HIGHLY doubt that it will prove to be female !

[Martin Oosthuysen]

Hello
Looking at the area between the first set of book lungs,I'm going with male the space in between is also small. I can also see the dot,well I just call it that but is usually a telltale sign it is male.