Russell Solemn, age 12, of Wauwatosa, Wisc. For his question;
How does the worm get out of a jumping bean?
Broncho beans, alias Mexican jumping beams, are fascinating small wonders of nature. These chunky brown beans are somewhat triangular in shape, and most of them come from Mexico. And, wonder of wonders, these beans of the plant world jump around like busy bugs of the animal world. This active career of a jumping bean lasts several months.
The jumping bean is the home of a wormy caterpillar. The partnership begins in hot, arid regions of South and Central America. If the grub is lucky, his story also will end there, for he cannot live anywhere else. He depends upon the arrow plant, which shares the harsh region with an assortment of cactuses and scrawny brush.
Showers sprinkle the parched land in late spring, and the arrow plant sprouts up spires of flowers. Along comes a drab moth, ready to lay her eggs. She places each of them in the heart of a flower and flies on her way. The petals soon fade, and the flower develops a Seedpod or bean. The moth egg hatches t0 find itself Sealed in a pantry of food. It eats and eats, lining its tiny room with a web of silk and leaving a thin wall to shelter it from the scorching heat.
As the bean grows, so does the caterpillar inside it. When the wormy tenant Moves, the bean Moves with it and together they can hop two or three inches again and again. When the worm reaches its full size, it eats a thin door at one end of the bean. It then changes into a chrysalis and sleeps through a pupa stage, and the jumping bean jumps no more.
Spring returns to the parched land with sprinkling showers. The pupa awakes and shoves open the paper thin door at one end of the bean. It begins to emerge, and as it struggles forth the chrysalis bursts open. Out comes a drab little moth to dry her dusty wings in the desert air. Soon she is ready to fly away and find a mate. Then she finds an arrow plant in bloom and lays her eggs that will become a new generation of frisky jumping beans.
In the wild, the beans finally fall to the ground. Now the life of the worm may depend upon its jumping antics. If left in the scorching sun, he may be roasted alive inside his bean pantry. He jerks his wormy body, making the bean hop several inches. With luck, he may hop into a shady spot and survive the scorching heat.
The insect with this amazing life story is a distant relative of our pesky apple worm. The arrow plant is a member of the spurge family and a cousin of the Christmas bright poinsettia. It is a bush; perhaps five feet high, with leaves like pointed darts and spires of flowers like spears. Its name, however, comes from its milky sap, which at one time was used to poison the tips of arrows. The bug in the jumping bean must feed on the Seedpods of this plant or be unable to complete its life cycle. And the arrow plant can thrive only in its native deserts.