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A peculiar new poison-shooting insect has baffled scientists with its extreme defence mechanism - but that's not the only reason why it has tongues wagging.

The illacme tobini also possesses an impressive 414 legs - and can handily turn four of them into penises.

It was discovered in the caves of the Sequoia National Park, part of the Sierra Nevada mountains in Granada, Spain.

The insect is part of the millipede family and is another species of the illacme penipes, which with 750 legs has the most limbs of all insects.

Both creatures are similar in looks, species and their ability to produce silk.

(Image: Youtube)

But the tobini is also in possession of not one but four penises, unlike its leggier relative the penipes.

Assistant Professor of Entomology Department at Virginia Tech, Paul Marek , said: "I never would have expected that a second species of the leggiest animal on the planet would be discovered in a cave 150 miles away."

The insect was discovered by cave biologist Dr Jean Krejca, according to RT .

But due to the sensitivity of the newly-discovered case, its actual location has not been release yet.