Beetle Penises May Hold Clues For Better Medical Devices

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A new study describes, in detail, the stiffness of beetle penises, which might serve as inspiration for people who design medical catheters.

The industry has long struggled with an engineering problem: How do you keep a very thin tube flexible enough to snake into hard-to-reach places but rigid enough to withstand insertion? Plus, there is the problem of buckling — when a thin tube crimps so fluids can't flow through it anymore.

Enter the penis of the thistle tortoise beetle. It has a few things going for it, from a scientific perspective. First, like many insect penises, it is enormously long compared with the creature itself. At 10 millimeters, it is longer than the beetle's entire body. Second, it is capable of contorting to trace the coiled sexual organ of the female beetle.

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