Why Did the Mexican Jumping Bean Jump? | Deep Look

[Music] what if you spent most of your life in near darkness surrounded by the same walls eating the same food all alone [Music] that's life inside a mexican jumping bean and that's just how these creatures like it they're the same jumping beans you find in markets all over mexico and exported worldwide but they're not something you'd want to eat they aren't beans at all they're seeds of this scraggly shrub it primarily grows in mexico in the mountains of the sonoran desert there are three of them that make up this fruit some of these sections have a stowaway a tiny moth larva that burrowed into the seed while it was still on the plant the larva devours the inside of the seed hollowing out its new pad to make room for its growing body over the next eight to ten months our squirmy friend lines the walls with a comfy layer of silk just enough air and moisture sneak in through tiny holes in the seed walls it's a cozy life except for the sweltering desert sun that heat can dry out and kill our sweet little larva so of course it starts jumping a few hops out of the sun can mean the difference between life and death [Music] luckily it's got wheels well sort of the seeds shape with two flat sides and one curved even allows the jumping beans to travel uphill inside the larva is working hard with its back legs it grabs onto the silk lining and thrashes its head against the seed wall the force topples the seed [Music] researchers think these head bangers aim themselves in the right direction using a finely tuned sense of temperature check out this experiment one side of the pan is warmed by a heat lamp the other is cooled by an ice pack over time the larvae move away from the heat [Music] it's not always a smooth trip if the seed gets damaged the larva springs into action repairing holes with a dense patch of silk but the larva can't stay in its comfort zone forever with sharp mandibles it cuts a circular door in the seed wall but it doesn't open it it's doing its future self a favor when it's done it turns into a pupa and then transforms into an adult moth it simply pushes itself through the pre-cut exit door which is handy because now its mandibles are gone the liberated moth has mere days maybe a few weeks to quickly mate and lay eggs before it dies but after all freedom isn't really what this animal lives for for most of life it's totally fine being a young larva trapped inside a seed just hoping and hopping for a place in the shade hi it's laura it's hard to grow up you know what's also hard giving birth a female tetsy fly pushes out a single squiggly larva almost as big as herself which she nourishes with her own milk that's right fly milk enjoy and see you soon

Channel: Deep Look

Views: 2,940,833

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Id: 3lkdidU79TY

Length: 4min 16sec (256 seconds)

Published: Tue Mar 23 2021