In
female human anatomy, the
clitoral hood (also called
preputium clitoridis and
clitoral prepuce) is a fold of
skin that surrounds and protects the
glans of the
clitoris; it also covers the external shaft of the clitoris, develops as part of the
labia minora and is
homologous with the
foreskin (equally called
prepuce) in
male genitals. The clitoral hood, like the foreskin, is composed of
muccocutaneous tissues; these tissues are between the
mucosa and the skin, and they may have immunological importance because they may be a point of entry of mucosal vaccines. The clitoral hood is also important not only in protection of the clitoral glans, but also in pleasure, as it is an
erogenous tissue.