Criptic's Page On Herps - Tarantulas

Males transfer sperm indirectly, using their secondary sexual organs. The primary genital organ for all tarantulas is underneath the abdomen near the front of the body. When Males mature, they develop pedipalps to transfer the sperm to the female. The last joint of the pedipalps develops into a complicated bulblike structure called the cymbium. When mature males spin a little hammock of silk (called a sperm web). They deposit a drop of sperm from their genital aperture onto it, and then dip their embolus into the drop of sperm and draw it up into the bulb for later use. Tarantulas mate face-to-face. The male reaches under the female and inserts the embolus into the female's genital aperture.

It is fairly easy to spot the embolus and cymbium on an adult male. Most males also have tibial spurs on the underside of the first pair of legs at the end of the tibia. To sex females it's easier to sex them by looking at the shedded skin.

A female tarantula can be determined by examining the shedded skin. Tarantulas shed the lining of their genitalia with their skin, so you can examine the stage of development of the spermatheca by looking at the molt. Viewed externally it looks like an M.

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