Next invasive garden threat? A slithering & jumping worm

NEW YORK, Oct 19, (AP): Just when you think you’ve become accustomed to the spotted lanternfly invasion, along comes another menace to the ecosystem: the Asian jumping worm.

Allow me to introduce you to Amynthas agrestis, also known as “Alabama jumper,” “Jersey wriggler” and the rude-but-accurate “crazy worm.” Unlike garden-variety earthworms, these flipping, thrashing, invasive miscreants are ravenous consumers of humus, the rich, organic, essential top layer of soil formed by dead and decaying small animals, insects and leaf litter in places like forests, plant nurseries and your garden.

Plants, fungi and other soil life cannot survive without humus, and “Asian jumping worms can eat all of it,” Sarah Farmer of the US Forest Service wrote in a USDA Southern Research Center blog post published in May.

A decline in humus would also threaten birds and other wildlife that depend on soil-dwelling insects for food.

The insatiable invertebrates, native to east-central Asia, are believed to have been introduced to the United States in the late 1800s, likely as hitchhikers in potted plants. But their existence went largely unnoticed — or perhaps underreported — until the past decade, when ecologists flagged them as problematic, according to Dr. Timothy McCay, a biology and environmental studies professor at Colgate University in Hamilton, New York.

Since then, the worms’ presence has been confirmed in 35 states across the country.

Although their annual life cycle ends in winter, Asian jumping worm cocoons survive to spawn a new generation in spring. Their tiny eggs are nearly impossible to notice in soil or mulch, but adult worms, which range from 3 to 8 inches long, are easy to spot close to the soil surface and can often be seen moving under mulch or leaf litter, McCay said.

As they devour their way through the soil, the worms leave two things behind: cocoons and castings. The cocoons are tiny and soil-colored, so they are easy to miss. However, the castings, or excrement, have a granular, coffee-ground texture that will alert you to their presence.

The glossy worms can be either gray or brown, with a smooth cream or white collar that wraps entirely around part of their bodies.