A Mexican jumping bean is a phenomenon native to Mexico (where it is known as a brincaor, or "hopper"). Physically, Mexican jumping beans resemble small tan to brown beans. They are a type of seed in which the egg of a small moth has been laid. It is the moth's larva which makes them 'jump'. The beans themselves are from a shrub of the genus Sebastiania (S. palmeri or S. pavoniana), itself often referred to as the jumping bean, while the moth is a member of the genus Cydia called a jumping bean moth.