Females are attracted to territories with more vegetation because it attracts more prey for them and serves as a water supply which they are able to retain well due to the reduced number of sweat glands. The females will go to the male with the most vegetation in his territory, eat and mate. The female American Rhingon mates once a year for the last three of her five-year life span. The females reach sexual maturity after two years while the males reach sexual maturity after only one, however both male and female are abandoned by their mother after six months of nursing. Mating season is during the months of April and May, this is because they estivate, deep in the sand, during the months of June to August due to the unbearable temperatures and no rainfall. During this period of dormancy, they develop their young who take the full three months to develop. Their core temperature cools due to the burrow which slows their metabolism enough to keep the mother alive and to nourish the embryo. They return from their dormancy period once the young have developed and temperatures have dropped, their young being altricial as their dormancy does not aid the full development but reach independency after six months.
Recent comments