Gardeners usually love to see earthworms, but an invasive species of jumping worms is now causing problems for landowners and gardeners throughout the US.
Known as ‘jumping worms’, ‘snake worms’, or ‘crazy worms’, the Amynthas agrestis do not live up to the reputation of worms as beneficial organisms present in the soil ecology, as they will eat every organic component of the top layer of soil, leaving behind a waste product like coffee grounds that is devoid of nutrients for seeds or plants.
Expers report that the worms are also known to accumulate harmful elements including mercury, cadmium, copper, and lead inside of their bodies – which might “negatively impact” birds that would eat the worms.
Originally from Japan, it is believed that those worms were initially arrived in the United States from eastern Asia sometime in the early to mid-1900s, and can be carried to new places with shipments of mulch or potted plants.
By the summer of last year, the creatures had spread to Connecticut and more than 30 other states. The eastern U.S. and parts of Canada are frequent locations, according to the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, where the climate is “similar to the area in Japan where jumping worms come from.”
People are urged to remove soil and trash before transferring it between locations and to only sell or buy plants and gardening supplies that have been examined and are thought to be jumping worm-free.
