Nature is full of wonders and that’s a well known fact. It never seizes to amaze us with its peculiarities. Science people discover new things as we speak. Some discoveries help us understand the evolution of the species better: last week, paleontologists discovered the 300 million year old ancestor of the modern land mammals. Now, scientists have discovered something which was a complete surprise to them: a female insect which has a penis-like reproductive organ.
Researchers have found four species of Brazilian insects where the female possesses a penis and the males a vagina. This seems to be unprecedented in the animal kingdom. The female insect introduces the penis into the male’s vagina during the copulation process.
Yoshizawa Kazunori, an entomologist at Hokkaido University in Japan is the co-author of the recent study and says that, “The female penis is a completely novel structure.” The scientist says that the Brazilian insect species seem to have become very masculine in time, despite having an egg-laying apparatus and producing the larger gametes. The fact that the females of these four species of insects have grown a male sexual organ could be “comparable with the origin of insect wings.”
The new Brazilian insect species were discovered in the caves of Peruacu River Alley. The researchers say that the insects are very similar to other insects that live in those caves and that at first they are unremarkable. Scientists say that during mating time the roles are inverted and the female of the species mount the male and penetrates it with her gynosome (a term used to describe the female penis). The mating period can last up to 70 hours because of the female’s penis which is inflatable and spiny and clings to the male’s internal tissues.
During the mating period the female gathers the sperm to fertilize her eggs. Yoshizawa said: “Because the female’s anchoring force is very strong, a male’s resistance may cause damage to his genitalia, therefore, it is very likely that entire mating processes are controlled actively by females, whereas males are rather passive.”
The Female Penis In Brazilian Insect Species – scientists are trying to figure out how it happened
The scientists are now gathering data to compare the Brazilian insect species to other close related ones. They are trying to understand how did the female penis occur and why.
“These females likely represent the most ‘macho’ females among animals discovered to date. It is important to unveil why”, Yoshizawa stated.