While it is possible that these non-SP females were immature, two of these females had mature ovaries upon subsequent exam ination(the remainder were not available for ovary examination) and three others were carrying fertilized egg clutches. In addition, the females without sperm had abdomen width to CL ratios(an indicator of maturity: Krouse, 1973; Aiken and Waddy, 1980) com parable to those of females(Pugh et al.. unpublished data). Thus, while it seems unlikely that these particular females(all 86 mm CL) were immature, future sampling to document mating activity may benefit from combining our sperm sampling technique with observations of ovary condition, cement gland stage, or both(see iwaddy and Aiken, 2005) to clarify any maturity-related concerns