First ‘Female Penis’ in Animal Kingdom Discovered

Discovery of four new insect species in Brazil stunned researchers and may even shock you. These species have reversed sex lives as female insects have penises and males have vaginas, said researchers from the Federal University of Lavras in Brazil.
Co-author of the study, Rodrigo Ferreira, said the finding is such that it cannot be compared to anything. Researchers found these unique critters while scouring caves in Brazil and their sex lives were observed in the lab. The species belong to the Neotrogla genus. Differences were found in the shape and size of the sexual organs of the four insect species.
Another astonishing finding is time of copulation these female and men take. Female has spiny structure on its penis to fix itself to the male for copulation that continues for 40 to 70 hours. There are insects like mites and beetles where females have long protrusions used during sex, said researchers.
But these insects do not anchor and locks each other as these newly found species do. Only one thing that the flea-size insects maintained was female collects sperm released by the male. These species live in dry caves where limited food and nutrients are available.
It means that producing eggs without extra nourishment could prove a tough task for females. This extra nourishment could be seminal fluid of males. "The female penis, in this context, is certainly a good tool for getting a nutritious resource from males", affirmed Ferreira.
William Eberhard from the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute said the discovery is quite unique. These insects can be used to test many beliefs with regard to sexual selection and evolution of genitalia.