Deep Look

🏆AWARD WIN for DEEP LOOK!

Added 2022-06-17 23:56:02 +0000 UTC

Hey Deep Look fans! We've won a Northern California Emmy for our episode: Why Did the Mexican Jumping Bean Jump? 🐛

🎉Congratulations to our producer Mike Seely and also Kevin Collins (https://www.youtube.com/user/kevincollinsfilm), the filmmaker Mike worked with to capture the x-ray footage inside the beans.

(👀 If you need a refresher on our 2022 Deep Look Emmy Nominees, here is our playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLdKlciEDdCQDR-KONYesRT2IpVdlVg0UO)

Mexican jumping bean’s signature movement comes from a tiny moth larva that burrows inside a seed when it is still on the bush. The larva eats the inside of the seed, hollowing it out. The seed capsule is home to the larva for 8-10 months before it emerges as a full-grown moth.

Inside the seed, the larva thrashes around to move itself out of the harsh desert sun, causing the beans to “jump.”

The Mexican jumping bean moth does not have sharp mouthparts for cutting, so it relies on itself as a young larva to pre-cut the exit door in the hard wall of the seed capsule, before it transforms into a moth.