Females Have Penises in Cave Insect Species, Copulation Lasts 40 to 70 Hours
Posted on April 17, 2014
Scientists have discovered four species of cave insects with sex-reversed genitalia. Scientists say female insects insert an elaborate, penis-like organ into males' much-reduced, vagina-like opening. Copulation then lasts for 40 to 70 hours. The female penis of N. aurora is pictured above. The Brazilian insects all belong to the genus Neotrogla.
Kazunori Yoshizawa from Hokkaido University in Japan says in the announcement, "Although sex-role reversal has been identified in several different animals, Neotrogla is the only example in which the intromittent organ is also reversed."
The female's penis-like structure, the gynosome, is inserted into males and used to receive generous capsules of nourishment and sperm. Once inside a male, the membranous part of the female gynosome inflates and numerous spines internally anchor the two insects together. The researchers attempted to pull a male and female insect apart and the male's abdomen was ripped from the thorax without breaking the genital coupling. The scientists note that "it appears that females can hold males very tightly indeed."
Two Neotrogla curvata are copulating in the photograph below.
The research paper, "Female penis, male vagina, and their correlated evolution in a cave insect," is published here in Current Biology.
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