Those capsules that are lucky to contain a moth larvae inside begin to "jump" on the forest floor. Our mysterious Mexican Jumping Bean has come to life. After months of jumping, the moth larvae will go dormant for a short time and begin spinning a cocoon inside the capsule. This is the stage when the larvae will undergo metamorphosis and an adult Jumping Bean moth will emerge. The moth will fly off into the desert and this amazing life cycle is repeated for the next generation of Mexican Jumping beans.
Picture of a Mexican Jumping Bean worm moth larvae. This is what is inside the bean making it jump. Circular exit door shown with trapdoor still attached. Since the adult moth has no teeth, the exit door was created when the worm moth larvae entered the bean. The ripening capsules of the shrub Sebastiana pavoniana. At this stage, the moth larva is already inside the "bean".
We would buy them and play games with them on the kitchen table. So, to answer your first question, Mexican jumping beans are real. The next question should be, "Do Mexican jumping beans have the near-human mental capacity of the beans that help Speedy Gonzalez? Are they able to jump the length of a room, trip adversaries Mexican jumping beans are about the size of a kernel of corn or a small bean.
They do not wear sombreros. They do not jump into the air. They rock, or, on occasion, scoot a millimeter or two. Imagine a kernel of corn that scoots a millimeter in one direction every 15 seconds or so -- that's about as exciting as jumping beans get. The thing that makes these beans jump is a tiny moth larvae that lives inside the bean.
The moth lays its eggs in the flower of the plant, and the eggs are incorporated into the seeds. The individual carpels are sold as "jumping beans. Carpel at top has been cut open to reveal the robust larva. Middle Right Empty pupal cases formed by larvae inside each carpel.
Adult moth emerges from pupal case during late spring or summer. Far Right Adult moth that emerges from "jumping bean" through circular exit door.
Imagine there was a task you had to perform as a child that would be critical for your survival as an adult. In order for the jumping bean moth with no cutting mouthparts to escape from its jumping bean container, it must pass through an exit door that it cut many months before in its larval stage. This has always intrigued me since I saw my 1st Mexican jumping bean when I was a child! Cut-away view of Mexican jumping bean carpel showing pupa of jumping bean moth Laspeyresia saltitans resting in a silken cocoon.
Note the escape door which is conveniently placed where the adult moth will emerge. Close-up view of an Arizona jumping bean capsule Sebastiana bilocularis showing the head of a larva and the circular exit hole it has just cut.
The door has been removed to show the larva's head. The larva uses its powerful jaws mandibles to chew through the wall of the capsule. Close-up view of an Arizona jumping bean capsule Sebastiana bilocularis with exit door opened to show pupa inside. The door was pre-cut by the larva prior to pupation.
The door is eventually pushed open by the emerging pupa, and the adult moth crawls out of the pupal case. If a window is cut into the capsule to observe the active larva, it will spin a silken web across the opening. Close-up view of Mexican jumping bean carpel in late spring showing a pupa that has just pushed through the exit door. Soon a small gray moth Laspeyresia saltitans will break out of the pupal case and fly away in search of a mate.
One carpel from a seed capsule of Sebastiana pavoniana sold in San Diego as a Mexican jumping bean.
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