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dandelions on the meadow В© Maria Brzostowska #616050.

The $10.00 Special: our most popular item. You get 8 boxes of Jumping Beans fresh off the forest floor direct to your door.          Plastic box colors will vary.





 

 



 

The Jumping Beans Life Cycle

   This amazing process starts every Spring when a deciduous shrub native only to Mexico begins to bloom. The shrub is known as Sebastiana pavoniana which grows on rocky desert slopes in the states of Sonora & Chihuahua, Mexico. The female Jumping Bean moth Laspeyresia saltitans lays her eggs on the immature ovaries (capsules) of the shrubs flower. After a few weeks the eggs hatch and the tiny insect larvae (worm) eats its way to the inside of the flowers capsule. As the shrub matures, the capsules that contain the insect larva become hard and changes to a brownish color. The moth larvae, now trapped inside his new home, begins eating the developing seed inside the capsule as food. After the first spring rains occur, the capsules separate into three sections and fall to the ground. 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.

Jumping Bean larvae out of shell

Picture of a Mexican Jumping Bean worm (moth larvae). This is what is inside the bean making it jump.

Museum photo donated by Joe Lillian & family.

Mexican Jumping Bean pupa case

Pupa Stage. This is the stage within the bean the worm begins metamorphosis.

Pupa case empty with moth gone

Empty pupa case. The adult moth emerges from the case after completing metamorphosis.

Exit trap dooor of the jumping bean moth

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.

Jumping Bean moth

A full grown adult Jumping Bean Moth. The moth will emerge in May and will only live a few days.

Moth exit holes a perfect circle

Jumping beans that the moth has emerged from. The exit hole is almost a perfect circle!

Jumping Bean shrub photo

The ripening capsules of the shrub Sebastiana pavoniana. At this stage, the moth larva is already inside the "bean".

 

MORE PHOTOS TO COME AS WE EXPAND THE MUSEUM! 

Use of photos: Children, teachers, future Nobel Prize winners and all interested parties are free to use the above photos for reports or personal use. Please give photo credit to Beans That Jump. Thank you.

Photos may not be used on commercial sites except this one!!. DO NOT right click and
post these photos on Ebay or any other auction site. The cyber eye is watching!