DARPA Has Only One Thing Left to Weaponize and Beetles Already Did - Science

The seed beetle's penis, seen here through a microscope, pierces the female reproductive tract during mating

If you're here for the prurient interest, you will be sorely and I do mean painfully disappointed.

"The penis is covered in hundreds of sharp spines which pierce the female reproductive tract during mating," explained Liam Dougherty, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Western Australia in Crawley, and lead author of a study that asks a deceptively simple question: how do females cope?

The answer—based on a decade of laboratory experiments spanning 100 seed beetle generations—reveals a remarkable story of adaptation, and an evolutionary tit-for-tat that Dougherty likens to a "sexual 'arms race'."

"When males evolved to increase male harm, the females co-evolved to reduce that harm," and in more ways than one, Dougherty told AFP."

Phys.org:  Weaponized penis drives sexual 'arms race' (in beetles)

That takes twisted out into a dimension only the interested student is likely to go.


There's an obvious segue to the way politicians keep their women but the suggestion should be sufficient and just imagine the ribald romance with one of these li'l tuskers, huh.