An early riser catches a worm – but you might have to be there even earlier to argue the jumping worm.
Experts are warning gardening enthusiasts to look at out for jumping worms this summer, because the species is understood to degrade soil quality and make it inhospitable for plant growth.
“Invasive Asian jumping worms got their name from the way in which they move,” wrote Mac Callaham, a researcher on the U.S. Department of Agriculture in website in 2022. “They will bounce a foot off the bottom. They are gluttonous.
The invasive, non-native worm is native to Asia and moves like an “S”, much like a snake. If it deems it in peril, the worm flails and jumps off the bottom to distract the attacker and even sheds its tail to flee.
Shocked gardeners take to TikTok to share bug bugs, not knowing remove the cylindrical creatures from their gardens.
“Is there a club I can join”, an complained the avid gardenertogether with a bowl filled with jumping, writhing worms.
Possibly an emotional support group? they continued. “Anything to not be just me and the bugs.”
“I went out within the garden this morning and, oh boy, were the bugs having a celebration” – one TikToker he exclaimed, showing footage of long, dark worms spinning in the bottom.
“More Asian jumping worms. Kill it,” he advised one other TikTokerwho found a garden filled with them in San Diego, California.
Jumping worms differ from earthworms in that they don’t burrow deep into the soil and live in a “litter layer”.
Like many other bugs, they eat leaves. But the issue with jumping bugs is that they are never satisfied, so they are going to proceed to eat your entire layer of litter, which is home to many small insects. The USDA has noted that many plants cannot grow and not using a layer of mulch.
Based on the USDA, the worms are native to eastern Asia, especially Japan and the Korean peninsula, and entered america within the twentieth century through the soil in potted plants. Since then, invasive chewers have been spotted in 34 states, most recently in Wisconsin.
“Jumping worms are well adapted to this humid continental and subtropical climate, in order that they have great potential to invade your entire eastern United States and parts of Canada,” explains the researcher. Connecticut Agricultural Experimental Station.
“Soil is the premise of life – and Asian jumping worms change it,” explained Callaham. “In truth, earthworms can have such a big impact that they are in a position to redesign the ecosystems around them.”
Within the garden, bugs can turn the soil into “dry, grainy granules”, making it difficult for a lot of plants to grow.
“As well as, they will deplete soil nutrients, affect soil organisms, and in lots of cases, invasive plants thrive where jumping worms live,” the USDA website added.
There are no chemicals available yet to treat jumping worms. Experts suggest physically removing them from the garden.
The Post contacted the USDA for comment.