Rhopalurus garridoi freshly moulted

Hey guys...here's a 6th instar R.garridoi freshly moulted today...I'm thinking it's a female with one moult remaining..alternatively of course it could be an adult male.
Check out the chela and metasoma...Wouldn't you's agree that the metasoma looks quite thin for a Rhopalurus male as do the chela?
Until my others moult i don't another one to compare with although judging by other pictures i've seen online it would appear to me as a sub adult female.

Opinions?

I'm leaning towards female as well but to be accurate;
At 6.instar, its easier to sex via a side shot on the chela.
Identical to Rhopalurus junceus. With the power of your lens,
you should be able to get a clear shot of it.

https://scorpionforum.darkbb.com/t7792-rhopalurus-junceus

Btw, great pic and a gorgeous specimen there

Excellent GS .. I wasn't aware that the tarsus dimorphism applied to garridoi as well..I'll leave "her" alone for a couple of days to harden up and then i'll check that out.

Thanks a lot

Nice pic! Gorgeous scorp you have there

Thanks Bex .. Nice to know i'm not the only one who thinks these scorps look so delicious

Den wrote:

Excellent GS .. I wasn't aware that the tarsus dimorphism applied to garridoi as well..I'll leave "her" alone for a couple of days to harden up and then i'll check that out.

Thanks a lot

Yes, their tarsus dimorphism are identical to Rhopalurus junceus.
I'll post a macro on mine soon but this is something i found on scorpion-files:

Rhopalurus garridoi male:



As mentioned, sexual dimorphism is significant from 6.instar, hence if you do not see the "noticeable "tooth" on the moveable finger (tarsus) with the fixed finger (tibia) slightly curved (resulting in a gap between the tibia and tarsus when the chela is fully closed)" , your 6.instar specimen will identified as a female.

Cheers,

Very nice looking specie!
Looks to me like a mixture of A.A. hector, P. cavimanus, and H. tamulus.

Hmm..I've got 4 of these that i brought in at instar 5 with another one moulting last night (within 3 days of the other one) and that one is also looking like a sub adult female to .. Only 2 more to moult and i'm now wondering if garridoi shares the similar trait to many other Rhopalurus species wherein males are rare ... It won't surprise me!. Is that anything you know about GS?.....and here's a close up of her chela...pretty conclusive then eh..

Yeh, they are nice looking scorps Dolby..If i get a male (and i will one way or another) and manage to get some young out of them i'll send you a few if you want.. .. So if i calculate approx 3 or 4 months until final moult coupled with a gestation period of approx 4 months that shouldn't be to long to wait...

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i'll send you a few if you want..

Sure, I never refuse scorps Specially from Germany, have noticed until now that the shipping from there is pretty top on. Haven't had even one scorpling die during transport until now.

In fact, I'm just waiting for the spring to get some more species from there.

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I'm just waiting for the spring to get some more species

I know that feeling ... I was hoping to get to Hamm market last weekend but work commitments didn't allow it and while i could take a drive southwards to pick a few scorpions up i'd rather wait until the spring now and get them posted. Yeh, i can't fault the postal system here either although i did experienced a death a couple of months ago but that had more to do with the sender than the post.

You're lucky you have lots of dealers more or less local. I can't find anything else than overly expensive emps here. From DE by post is usually 3-5 days only so as long as the weather is ok, it's not a big problem.

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i'm now wondering if garridoi shares the similar trait to many other Rhopalurus species wherein males are rare

Panic is over.....This guy moulted today and in my mind there's no doubt about the sex....It's still fresh and soft so i don't want to disturb it to much with a side shot of the chela but check out the chunky chela and metasoma compared with the first picture...This guy has gotta be a male..