Fruit bats use fellatio to prolong copulation time.
Winner of the 2010 Ig Nobel Prize for Biology
Female bats often lick their mate's penis during dorsoventral copulation.
The female lowers her head to lick the shaft or the base of the male's penis but does not lick the glans penis which has already penetrated the vagina.
Males never withdrew their penis when it was licked by the mating partner.
Mating pairs spent significantly more time in copulation if the female licked her mate's penis than if fellatio was absent.
This may have several important functions, for example increasing fertilization success, or even reducing the risk of contracting STDs.
The behaviour presumably favours the donor, although it may also benefit both partners especially if fertilization success is increased.
It is conceivable that the female manipulates the male by increasing sexual stimulation, so that she ultimately benefits.
Read factlets by:
RSS feed
Email feed
