Molecular Love (and other facts of life)
People are talking about insect genitalia more than ever before, because a paper was published with the title: “Female Penis, Male Vagina”. It was even mentioned on the Colbert Report:
Tip of the Hat, Wag of the Finger 2:48 – 4:28 The Colbert Report 5/7/2014
This sensational anatomy belongs to four insect species in the genus Neutrogla that have recently been discovered in Brazilian bat caves. The sex of these insects are apparently reversed, the female has a penis and the male a vagina. The female penis is external genitalia called a gynosome while the male vagina is internal genitalia called a phallosome or genital chamber. The gynosomes of the four species differ in size, shape and whether they have spines. Correspondingly the phallosome shape is essentially an inverted gynosome with pouches instead of spines. To copulate (have sex) the female inserts her genitalia into the male in order to collect…
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