An academic has provoked a firestorm of rage after claiming lesbians evolved because men are turned on by ladies who have sex with each other.

Menelaos Apostolou, a brave professor at the University of Nicosia in Cyprus, asked 1,509 heterosexual people whether they like the thought of their partner romping with a member of the same sex.

He found 15 percent of heterosexual men in long-term relationships would enjoy it if their partner had sex with a woman, compared to 30 percent of men in short-term flings, according to The Advocate.

In a paper published in the respected journal Personality and Individual Differences, Apostolou found many men would be happy going out with a partner who enjoys the company of other women.

“A lot of men indicate a desire to have a partner who also experiences same-sex attraction,” Apostolou told IBTimes UK.

“These kinds of sexual traits are more instinctive. It’s a mechanism that has been selected to serve a purpose — to make you reproduce.”

His argument suggests women who had lesbian tendencies were successful in evolutionary terms because men chose to reproduce with them.

In an interview with Pink News, the professor added: “My argument in the paper is this: A considerable proportion of men desire same-sex attractions in women, and this is one possible reason why many women have such attractions.”

He received a vicious tongue-lashing on Twitter, where people slammed the study because it did not involve talking to lesbians themselves.

Roxy Bourdillon, web editor of Diva Magazine, described the research as “patriarchal bulls—.”

She wrote: “You’ve missed the fundamental point of being a lesbian. It’s not about turning guys on, it’s about turning girls on.

“Let me tell it to you straight, straight boy: men are as relevant to my lesbian relationship as your study is to useful scientific research.”

Bourdillon then launched into a rant designed to dissuade any man from dreaming of sex with two ladies at the same time.

She added: “For any man who has ever fantasized about a threesome with a lesbian couple, let me paint you a little picture of what that would look like in real life: you feeling indescribably awkward while I lecture you on intersectional feminism – fully clothed – and my GF contemplates starting her own study into the scientific effects of her whacking you in the groin with a spanner.”