# Hemidactylus frenatus mating, ventral view

- By: Basile Morin
- Date: 2019-08-12
- Classification: Photograph
- Museum: [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hemidactylus_frenatus_mating,_ventral_view.jpg)
- Rights: [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0)
- Picture: https://invisiblenetwork.ai/thumbs/commons/thumb/f/f6/Hemidactylus_frenatus_mating%2C_ventral_view.jpg/1920px-Hemidactylus_frenatus_mating%2C_ventral_view.jpg
- Who can see it: Kids profiles and older (museums give no ratings; placed by Invisible Network from the museum's own words)

Common House Geckos (Hemidactylus frenatus) mating. Ventral view with hemipenis inserted in the cloaca. This long-exposure photograph (2.5 s), taken in soft light (without flash) through a window with a macro lens and a tripod, reveals many details, like the sexual organs and the adhesive lamellae with setae under the feet (allowing traction of the reptile on smooth surfaces). All male squamates have a pair of intromittent organs called hemipenes, inside a sheath in the inner portion of the tail (sometimes producing a bulge), usually held inverted within the body, and everted for reproduction via erectile tissue. Only one of these hemipenis is used during the reproductive intercourse. Reciprocally, females own two hemiclitores. Single organ in the form of a canal, closed by the anal sphincter, the genital opening of female reptiles (the cloaca) allows either the exit of eggs, the evacuation of urine and feces, and reproduction. To adhere and cling to the surface of vertical smooth materials like glass, the geckos have lamellae under their feet, with a lot of setae, kind of bristle- or hair-like structures creating interactions with the support. The total of the micro-forces of…