First 'Male Genital' Discovered in Female Brazilian Insect

Researchers are amazed upon discovering four female Brazilian insects gathering sperm from their male counterparts! So does this mean they could be the first female insects to have penises?

This was further proven by an announcement made by the Current Biology journal on how the four insect species from Brazil have penises for the females and the males having a vagina instead.

According to entomologist Yoshisawa Kazunori, the insects look similar to other cave-dwelling insects in the region. However, it creates such a wonder that when mating happens, the female insect is the one that mounts the male insect and inserts her penis to the male's vagina-like organ. The female kind of penis of the insect is called gynosome.

The mating session lasts for a whopping 40 to 70 hours, states the Japanese entomologist's email to The Verge. This is all due to the inflatable penis that anchors on the internal tissues of the male insect. At this point of mating behavior, the female gathers up large numbers of sperm that will be used for the fertilization of her eggs.

With the female's strong anchoring capacity, the male is not likely to resist since it could damage his own genitalia. Hence, Yoshisawa emphasized that in this particular mating process, it is the female insects that actively control the entire mating session.

These four female species of Brazilian insects live in extremely dry caves located in Brazil's Peruacu River Valley, which only offer limited supplies of food and much needed nutrients. Hence, this could further explain why the flea-sized insects have maintained a unique way of copulation where the female insects gather sperm the male insects has released.

In short, the females gather not just sperms but the much needed nutrients to survive as well. '"If Neotrogla males need to spend valuable resources producing their sperm packets, it's likely they would be choosy about their mates... which would help explain why the females have evolved a penis well designed to hold down reluctant mates long enough to wring out all their gifts," Scientific American explains the rare reversal of roles.

Watch the amazing discovery featured in the video below.