NJ’s Creepy New Invader Jumping Worms Can Leap Off the Ground

Just when it's becoming nice enough to go for a walk in the woods or do a little gardening in your backyard, here comes the news that an invasive species, the Asian jumping worm, has been found in New Jersey and 38 other states.

Eww, is your skin crawling yet?

A Little Background on Worms

In a garden, earthworms can be great for the soil. And a worm is a worm is a worm, right?

Wrong. There are more than 7,000 species of worms, and the longer you look, the more complex their world becomes. Some earthworms burrow.  Some earthworms invade. Some earthworms… jump?

The invasive Asian jumping worm has many common names: Alabama jumpers, Jersey wrigglers, wood eel, crazy worms, snake worms, and crazy snake worms.

“Invasive Asian jumping worms got their name because of the way they thrash around,” said Mac Callaham, a Forest Service researcher who specializes in soils. “They can flip themselves a foot off the ground.”

All that thrashing requires energy, and Asian jumping worms eat a lot. “They’re voracious.”

Like other earthworms, Asian jumping worms eat tiny pieces of fallen leaves. But there’s a problem. Those fallen leaves make up the top layer of forest soil.

The litter layer, as it’s called, is home to a vast number of tiny animals. Many plants can’t grow or spread without a layer of leaf litter.

Asian jumping worms can eat all of it. They are never satiated.

“Soil is the foundation of life – and Asian jumping worms change it,” says Callaham. “In fact, earthworms can have such huge impacts that they’re able to actually reengineer the ecosystems around them.”

Some Facts About Jumping Worms

- Jumping worms only live for a year, as an annual species—the adults die after the first freeze.

- They look like a regular earthworm, but have a white band around them instead of a pink one like an earthworm.

- A jumping worm can flip or thrash itself up to 1 foot off the ground.

- When disturbed or handled, these worms thrash violently with snake-like movements, which allows them to "jump" and even shed their tails to escape danger

- Jumping worms can't bite you. All earthworms y don't have teeth or the jaw structure to bite.

- The Penn State Extension says one telltale sign of an infestation of jumping worms is a very uniform, granular soil created from worm castings. The texture of this soil is often compared to coffee grounds.

- Since jumping worms live in the soil, they can be spread in mulch, potting mixes, or potted plants.

- Check any plants that you bring into your garden for the distinctive coffee ground-like soil. If you see it, throw out the plant, or remove all soil and rinse the roots thoroughly before bringing the plant into your garden.

- If you find any jumping worms, you are being told to kill them by putting them in a sealed plastic bag and leaving them in the direct sunlight for more than 10 minutes.

Then, throw them away. The whole thing sounds like a disturbing experience.