Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Dragon fly update
The question came up after the dragon fly rescue post, was it a boy or a girl? Well, we here at TigerHawk have vast resources at our disposal, including a sister who is an entomologist. Here is what she wrote in a Facebook chat moments ago...
Males have claspers at the end of their abdomens, which should be fairly easy to see. Also, in most species the males are much more brightly colored. In fact, some species also
OOps. Anyway, I was going to add that your picture is a female
And, that males of some species have little spoon-like appendages that scoop a previous male's sperm out of a female before he deposits his own. not at all relevant, but cool.
How did we large primates miss out on "spoon-like appendages that scoop a previous male's sperm"? We wuz robbed!
7 Comments:
By 
, at
Tue Jun 29, 04:40:00 PM:
Oh, cheer up. It's only a matter of time before body modifications are a franchise opportunity. With the ability to add new compartments, appendages and appliances, a reorganization ala Closet Organizers will be as routine as double genitals.
M.E.
By , at
Tue Jun 29, 05:45:00 PM:
Try Googling "Sperm Competition Foreskin"
By 
Georg Felis, at
Tue Jun 29, 06:33:00 PM:
They told me if I voted for McCain, there would be naked pictures of females covered in maple syrup on Tigerhawk's blog....and they were right.
Does this count as Rule 5 blogging?
By , at
Tue Jun 29, 08:28:00 PM:
They told me if I voted for McCain, there would be naked pictures of females covered in maple syrup on Tigerhawk's blog....and they were right.
Good one, Georgfelis.
By Bomber Girl, at
Tue Jun 29, 09:21:00 PM:
Tried to post my comment, Georgefelis, and a relevant pic, but sadly I either forgot my password (it happens), mistyped the "word verification", or it was rejected by the censors.
By Lycidas, at
Tue Jun 29, 11:13:00 PM:
@TH - You want to have an appendage that scoops out the sperm of other men?
You mean you want sloppy seconds?
Just sayin'....
By , at
Wed Jun 30, 09:24:00 PM:
I thought that a study was done that showed that the shape of the head (we're talking humans, here)acts to pull prevoiusly deposited sperm out during the piston action.
At least we don't use the mechanism that wild boars use--the ejaculate hardens to form a plug so later deposites don't make it in.
