This page will show you the differences between the male and the female tarantula. Also, this page will show you how to sex your tarantula with different methods. It will take some time before you manage to sex a tarantula correct.
Male Or Female?
Female
Male
Female tarantula's got their genital opening, also called the epigastric furrow (picture 1), in the middle of their abdomen. This opening slightly opens as soon as they mature.
The most accurate way to sex a female tarantula is simply by looking at their old skin, also called exuviae. The bigger the tarantula is, the easier the sexing will be; this counts for males aswell.
How to sex your (mature) female tarantula:
1. You need to make sure the exuvia is moist. If it hardened out, just use some water and soap to make it soft again.
2. Carefully open the abdomen part.
3. If your tarantula is a female, it will show a spermatheke (picture 2) very clear in the exuvia.
Some females can, depending on the species, grow up to 15, 20 or even 30 years old!
Males usually got longer legs than females. In most cases they are less beautiful than females, for example the Poecilotheria species: females are known for their beautiful colors, while mature males are often brown and grey colored.
The most accurate way to sex your mature male is to see if he got genitals, also called bulbus pedipalps (picture 2). Unlike females, males get them during their last molt to maturity, which is after about 2 to 4 years, depending on the species.
There are two methods to sex your mature male tarantula:
1. Take a close look at his pedipalps. If they are showing 'boxing gloves', also called emboli, then it's a mature male.
2. Take a close look at his first pair of legs. Most species will show tiny hooks, also called tibial hooks (picture 1), at the tibia.
Some examples of species that do not have these hooks are: Chilobrachys, Nhandu and Poecilotheria.
Differences between sexes
1. You can sex Poecilotheria species by the stripe on their abdomen. It may not be 100% accurate, but it does work in most cases. And it's handy because most of them are not friendly to be around with, making it harder to sex them other than through a molt.
With females the color of the stripe is bright white, the same color as the other stripes on their body. If the stripe on your tarantula lightens out when it gets older, it's most likely that it's a female. (picture 2)
With males the color of the stripe is grey to dark grey. As soon as it gets older you will notice it loses its color. (picture 1)
2. You can sex Avicularia species by looking at their pedipalps. It may not be very accurate but you can always see for yourself.
With females the tips of the pedipalps are shaped in a V.
With males the tips of the pedipalps are shaped round.
Thanks Joric
