Instructions

1. Catch or buy two crabs--one male and one female.

2. Turn one crab over so its belly or underside is visible. L.P. Steamers, the Baltimore crab house, offers this trick for determining whether the crab is male or female: If you see the form of the U.S. Capitol Building on the belly of the crab, then the crab is female. The shape also is reminiscent of a bee hive. The shape takes up the entire underside of the crab's belly.

3. Turn the other crab over so its belly or underside is visible. If you see a shape that looks like the Washington Monument on the belly, then the crab is male, writes L.P. Steamers on its website. The shape is in the middle of the belly and is narrow. It also resembles a rocket.