Comments on: Horrific beetle sex – why the most successful males have the spikiest penises

By: Recent Newspaper Articles

Recent Newspaper Articles — Sat, 23 Apr 2011 08:42:02 +0000

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By: » Horrific beetle sex – It’ll take a strong stomach to read this

» Horrific beetle sex – It’ll take a strong stomach to read this — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 15:00:44 +0000

[...] http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/notrocketscience/2009/03/01/horrific-beetle-sex-why-the-most-succe… [...]

By: Zach Miller

Zach Miller — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 08:56:05 +0000

This is all very…terrifying…

By: Ernie Coyne

Ernie Coyne — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 16:35:39 +0000

Terrific research and article. There are fancy condoms with ribs, bumps, and spikes that claim to enhance female pleasure. They almost look as horrible as the beetle penis–some medieval instrument of torture. Fortunately for humans, penis size does not determine reproductive success. There is no evidence that men with longer penises are more likely to fertilize a female partner. Semen is projectile ejaculated, but even if deposited inside by a short penis, the sperm swim. Because human sexual desire continues even during infertile days in the menstrual cycle, human mating is obviously intended for more than procreation. It encourages pairing. Also, female sexual pleasure receptors are fairly accessible. The clitoris is essentially external. The G-spot is only 2-3 inches up the anterior wall of the vagina. Most nerve endings are also clustered close to the entrance of the vagina. so the ability of the female to get sexual pleasure from mating encourages her acceptance of a male regardless of penis size. On the other hand, humans have evolved with a disproportionately large penis size among primates, so that would imply that natural selection among our humanoid ancestors preferred males with bigger penis size. But today, in spite of societal hype that bigger is better–in everything–surveys of female preference in penis size indicate that most women prefer an average sized penis. Larger ones may cause pain, although not the kind of damage that the beetle penis would, of course. Human sexuality is much more complex than that of insects. Attractiveness includes the preference of the male being a good provider –a good hunter, in caveman days. so women surveyed also seem reluctant to reject a short-penised partner if he was satisfactory in other ways. Presumably or hopefully he’d have sexual skills included in his attributes. smallpenisgreatlover.com is a site which addresses these issues.
Ernie Coyne

By: Crystal D.

Crystal D. — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 02:21:09 +0000

Yeah, that’s quite the phallus there… All I can really say is that I’m glad I’m a human right now!

By: Redruckus

Redruckus — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 20:30:06 +0000

Actually, this is more common than one might think as male cats also have spiny penises (hence all the yowling during mating season). It’s theorized that the spines especially hurt/scar the female if they try to pull away from the male. So this is basically a way for the male to secure a sexual position and “spread his seed.”
It’s explained better here, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cat#Reproduction.

By: David C. Brayton

David C. Brayton — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 20:13:58 +0000

I’m so glad the election is over. I can imagine what Sarah Palin and John McCain would have to say about this research.
If these scientists are ever at a cocktail party, how do they answer the question “So, what have you been studying lately?”
“Beetle penis length and it evolutionary implications. Quite fascinating actually. The biggest problem we had was getting the male erect. First, we had to knock him out–little bastards get really upset when you start sticking a ruler in his privates. We tried that GHB stuff but come to find out, ordinary CO2 dos this trick quite nicely.
“Then we had to get him erect. We tried one of those penis vacuum pumps. But jimmny cricket, those pumps actually make his, ah, member 25% bigger. Who woulda thought? I’ve been using one for years and its never worked on me. But it seems the beetle penis is quite responsive. Quite interesting but clearly not worth publishing.
“Well, we finally stumbled on a design that works (from Thailand, doncha know). Then the real work began. I’d measure penis length day-in day-out for months. I started dreaming about beetle penis length. Do you remember that movie Superbad? Dude, I was that kid but it was beetle penises!”

By: astrounit

astrounit — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 15:21:07 +0000

Whoa. That makes it even harder to contemplate. No pun intended.

By: Ed Yong

Ed Yong — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 14:46:22 +0000

SciC – I think that’s the case for some insects, and it’s been suggested for the seed beetle too. However, I think one of the other references I saw discounted this idea (although I can’t remember why).
Astrounit – they’re pretty convinced of the hardness. I think the exact word is “sclerotised” which is an arthropod-specific term that refers to a hardening of the exoskeleton. There’s no flaccid stage.

By: astrounit

astrounit — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 14:41:09 +0000

This is hard to look at. Question: how sure are the researchers that these spiny projections are, um, stiff and (presumably chitinously) hard? I see reference to “scarring”, but if these structures aren’t stiff and hard to begin with wouldn’t these structures be relatively, um, ‘soft and floppy applicators’ upon, um, deployment and act to enhance fertilization without the need for increasing the risk of infection in the inseminated female? Just wondering.