Commitment to Excellence: Learning Lessons from Mexican Jumping Beans

Have you ever seen Mexican Jumping Beans? They were a phenomenon I had only heard of until last week when a family member brought home a small box of them from a recent vacation. What surprised me the most? Well, the fact that these little beans really jump! I was instantly fascinated and decided to read up about Mexican Jumping Beans online. I learned that most Mexican Jumping Beans are small, tan and brown seed capsules, which look like beans, that grow on shrubs in Mexico and Baja, California. These seed capsules contain larvae of a small moth species that normally force itself out of the seed capsules in springtime, but can live in the seed capsule for many years. While Mexican Jumping Beans don’t necessarily jump, they roll and make a popping or clicking sound. While this rolling and clicking is the entertaining part of this little toy, it is sobering to learn that it is actually a sign of the larva trying to survive. When the larva heats up from increased temperature or ultraviolet rays, it throws itself against the wall of the capsule to displace the heat and stay cool to keep from its demise.

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