Exotic
Cydia saltitans (Westwood) (Tortricidae: Olethreutinae: Grapholitini)
Common names: Mexican jumping bean moth, Mexican jumping bean, jumping bean
Synonyms: deshaisiana ([none]), saltatoria (Carpocapsa), sebastianiae (Grapholitha)
Note: Cydia saltitans has often been referred to as Cydia deshaisiana in the economic literature. However, Lucas (1858) published the name deshaisiana without a valid description and so Gilligan et al. (2020b) treated it as a nomen nudum.
A recent phylogeny suggests that C. saltitans may not belong to Cydia and may more correctly be placed in Ethelgoda, but the authors refrained from formally transferring it (Hu et al. 2023Hu et al. 2023:
Hu, G.-L., Brown, J.W., Heikkilä, M., Aarvik, L., Mutanen, M. 2023. Molecular phylogeny, divergence time, biogeography and trends in host plant usage in the agriculturally important tortricid tribe Grapholitini (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae: Olethreutinae). Cladistics. 39(5): 359-381.).
FWLFWL:
forewing length; the distance from the base of the forewing to the apex, including fringe
: 8.0-11.0 mm
Forewings are gray to light gray with dark-brown to black markings. Many individuals have a row of black dots or dashes along the termentermen:
the outer edge of the forewing 
and a white dot below two dark markings on the apexapex:
the point furthest removed from the base or at the end of the costal area 
. Hindwings are brown.
Male genitalia are characterized by the absence of an uncusuncus:
a sclerotized process which is fused to the posterodorsal margin of tergum IX
; thin, curved valvaevalva:
an appendage flanking the intromittent organ that is used to clasp the female during copulation
with a conspicuous neck and nearly circular cuculluscucullus:
the distal portion of the male valva
; and a moderate, stout phallusphallus:
the male intromittent organ (penis); see "aedeagus" 
with numerous cornuticornutus:
spines used to anchor the male vesica in the female bursa during copulation
. Female genitalia are characterized by a broad, well-sclerotized sterigmasterigma:
the sclerotized region surrounding the female ostium bursae 
; partially sclerotizedsclerotized:
hardened; usually in reference to larval structures or adult genitalia 
ductus bursaeductus bursae:
a membranous tube connecting the ostium bursae to the corpus bursae
; and two large, tack-like signasignum:
a sclerotized projection or patch on the interior of the corpus bursae
in the corpus bursaecorpus bursae:
a dilated membranous sac at the anterior end of the bursa copulatrix
with large bases.
The following account is summarized from San Martín-Romero et al. (2020).
Mature larva approximately 18 mm in length; head yellow-brown; rest of body, including legs, prothoracic shieldprothoracic shield:
a sclerotized plate on the dorsal surface of the prothorax 
, pinaculapinaculum:
flattened sclerotized plates on a caterpillar that bear the setae
, and anal shieldanal shield:
a sclerotized plate on the dorsal surface of the last abdominal segment (in larvae) 
pale yellow to white, unmarked; anal fork absent; SV group on A1, 2, 7, 8, 9 numbering 3:3:3:2:1.
A more detailed account of larval morphology and chaetotaxychaetotaxy:
the arrangement of setae (in reference to Lepidoptera larvae), often depicted on a "setal map"
is available in San Martín-Romero et al. (2020).
Adults may appear similar to many other species of Cydia, especially C. fagiglandana. A genitalic dissection can be used to confirm identity.
Although similar to those of many other Cydia, larvae are unlikely to be encountered outside of a seed of Euphorbiaceae. Larval damage in Fabaceae is similar to that of Ecdytolopha fabivora, but larvae can be separated by differences in chaetotaxychaetotaxy:
the arrangement of setae (in reference to Lepidoptera larvae), often depicted on a "setal map" as outlined on their separate fact sheets.
The following account is summarized from Powell & Opler (2009).
Larvae tunnel inside the seeds of the host plant and feed inside. The seeds eventually drop from the host plant during the summer rainy season. Larvae are able to move or "jump" the seeds, or "beans," by rapid twitching; this behavior is triggered by temperature and may be a mechanism to move the seed to a more favorable location (such as out of direct sunlight). Larvae overwinter within the seed and pupation occurs the following spring. Adults emerge from the seed through a circular "door" that is cut by the larva prior to pupation.
Larvae of Cydia saltitans feed inside the seeds of various species of Euphorbiaceae and Fabaceae.
| Host plant | Host plant family | Reference(s) |
| Croton sp. | Euphorbiaceae | Powell & Opler 2009 |
| Sapium sp. | Euphorbiaceae | MacKay 1959MacKay 1959: MacKay, M. R. 1959. Larvae of the North American Olethreutidae (Lepidoptera). Canadian Entomologist, Supplement 10: 1-338.; Armstrong 1981Armstrong 1981: Armstrong, W. P. 1981. Mexican jumping beans. Pacific Discovery 34: 10-18., 1986 |
| Sebastiania bilocularis | Euphorbiaceae | Armstrong 1981Armstrong 1981: Armstrong, W. P. 1981. Mexican jumping beans. Pacific Discovery 34: 10-18. |
| Sebastiania pavoniana | Euphorbiaceae | Armstrong 1981Armstrong 1981: Armstrong, W. P. 1981. Mexican jumping beans. Pacific Discovery 34: 10-18., 1986; Heckrotte 1983Heckrotte 1983: Heckrotte, C. 1983. The influence of temperature on the behavior of the Mexican jumping bean. Journal of Thermal Biol. 8: 333-335. |
| Sebastiania sp. | Euphorbiaceae | Roman 1934Roman 1934: Roman, E. 1934. Le ldquo;Coco ensorceleacute;.rdquo; Historie drsquo;une semence sauteuse. Bulletin de la Societeacute; Linne Lyons (N.S.). 3: 96-100 [In French].; MacKay 1959MacKay 1959: MacKay, M. R. 1959. Larvae of the North American Olethreutidae (Lepidoptera). Canadian Entomologist, Supplement 10: 1-338.; Powell 2006Powell 2006: Powell, J. A. 2006. Database of Lepidoptera rearing lots, 1960-2005. University of California Berkeley, CA. |
| Canavalia ensiformis | Fabaceae | San Martín-Romero et al. 2020San Martín-Romero et al. 2020: San Martín-Romero, E., Martinez-Rosas, R., Espinosa-Mendoza, M., Landa-Cadena, G., Morales-Báez, M., Salinas-Castro, A. 2020. Complejo de perforadores: Ecdytolopha fabivora (Meyrick), Cydia deshaisiana (Lucas) y Cydia pomonella (L.) en cultivo de frijol criollo (Phaseolus lunatus L.) y canavalia (Canavalia ensiformis L.) en Mexico. Revista de la Sociedad Entomológica Argentina. 79(1): 13-20 [in Spanish]. |
| Phaseolus lunatus | Fabaceae | San Martín-Romero et al. 2020San Martín-Romero et al. 2020: San Martín-Romero, E., Martinez-Rosas, R., Espinosa-Mendoza, M., Landa-Cadena, G., Morales-Báez, M., Salinas-Castro, A. 2020. Complejo de perforadores: Ecdytolopha fabivora (Meyrick), Cydia deshaisiana (Lucas) y Cydia pomonella (L.) en cultivo de frijol criollo (Phaseolus lunatus L.) y canavalia (Canavalia ensiformis L.) en Mexico. Revista de la Sociedad Entomológica Argentina. 79(1): 13-20 [in Spanish]. |
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Cydia saltitans is a native of Mexico and is found in the northern states of Sinoloa and Sonora. The "Mexican jumping bean capitol of the world" is supposedly near the town of Alamos, Sonora. It is not known to occur naturally north of Mexico.
"Mexican jumping beans" are frequently imported into the U.S., occasionally in large numbers. Several websites are available that supply the "beans," complete with live larvae, on a commercial scale. Such sites include: http://www.jbean.com/ and http://www.jumpingbeansrus.com/.
Figs. 5-10: Whitney Cranshaw, Colorado State University, Bugwood.org
