Mexican jumping bean moth (Cydia deshaisiana)

''Cydia saltitans'' or jumping bean moth is a moth from Mexico that is most widely known as its larva, where it inhabits the carpels of seeds from several related shrubby trees, mainly ''

Sebastiania pavoniana ''Sebastiania pavoniana'' is a species of tree in the spurge family native to Mexico and northwest Costa Rica. It is the 'bean' part of the Mexican jumping bean, despite not being a legume like true beans. The 'jumping' is provided by the larv ...

'' or ''

Sapium biloculare ''Sapium'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Euphorbiaceae. It is widespread across most of Latin America and the West Indies. Many Old World species were formerly included in the genus, but recent authors have redistributed all the O ...

'' (

syn. The Botanical and Zoological Codes of nomenclature treat the concept of synonymy differently. * In botanical nomenclature, a synonym is a scientific name that applies to a taxon that (now) goes by a different scientific name. For example, Linnae ...

'' Pleradenophora bilocularis''). These seeds are commonly known as Mexican jumping beans. The moth lays the egg on the young capsule. The hatched larva gnaws into the fruit, which closes the minute hole during its growth. The larva attaches itself to the capsule with many silken threads by hooks on its anal and four hind abdominal prolegs. When the fruit is warmed, for instance by being held in the palm of the hand, the larva twitches, pulling on the threads and causing the characteristic hop. "Jump" is often an exaggeration, but the beans nonetheless do move around quite a bit. The larva may live for months inside the fruit with periods of inactivity. It eats away the seed inside the capsule, making a hollow for itself. If the fruit is cut, the larva will repair the hole with silk. If the larva has suitable conditions such as moisture, it will live long enough to go into a pupal stage. In preparation for this, it eats a circular hole through the shell and closes it again with a silken plug. This is to enable the jawless adult moth to escape from the fruit. After completion of the exit hole it spins a cocoon within the fruit, with a passageway leading to the opening. During the following pupal stage the larva will not move any more. Normally in the spring, the moth will force its way out of what remains of the fruit, through the round "trapdoor", leaving behind the pupal casing. The small, jawless silver and gray-colored moth will live for only a few days.

Nomenclature

In most of the historical literature prior to 2020, the name of this species is given as ''deshaisiana'' and attributed to Lucas, 1858. However, careful examination of the source literature revealed that Lucas' name has never been available (a ''

nomen nudum In taxonomy, a ''nomen nudum'' ('naked name'; plural ''nomina nuda'') is a designation which looks exactly like a scientific name of an organism, and may have originally been intended to be one, but it has not been published with an adequate descr ...

'' under the

ICZN The International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN) is a widely accepted convention in zoology that rules the formal scientific naming of organisms treated as animals. It is also informally known as the ICZN Code, for its publisher, the I ...

rules), and also that Westwood's original name, ''Carpocapsa saltitans'', had evidently been introduced earlier in that same year (Westwood's first appeared in July 1858 and Lucas' in November). Westwood coined the name using elements referring to the behavior; ''carpo'' and ''capsa'' indicating that it lives within a seed (see podocarp), and ''saltitans'' referring to its jumping behavior.

References

* (1876). Jumping Seeds and Galls. ''American Naturalist'', Vol. 10(4): 216–218.

External links

Information on Jumping Beans

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2714227 Grapholitini Moths described in 1858 Moths of Central America

Nomenclature

See also

References

External links