‘Earthworms on steroids’: Invasive jumping worms spreading in Connecticut
A jacked-up species of earthworm is spreading in Connecticut, with the potential to ravage the landscape and forest ecosystems.
Jumping worms — also known as “crazy worms,” “crazy snake worms” and “sharks of the earth” — deaden soil with their waste, or castings, which look like black Grape Nuts cereal.
“They destabilize the soil, increase nutrient leaching and erosion, increase drought vulnerability, cause turf detachment from soil and unstable rooting, root desiccation and low germination,” state scientist Gale Ridge wrote in a recent alert.
The worms are distinguished from nightcrawlers and other native cousins by a milky white collar and by strong, rigid bodies that can whip violently when disturbed. The worms do not jump, but they can climb and have been found in the upper stories of buildings.
“These are earthworms on steroids,” Ridge, who works for the entomology department at the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station in New Haven, wrote in the alert.
The worms are established in the Midwest and are spreading in the Northeast.
“Their activity has toppled stone walls in New England,” Ridge wrote. “Many native trees and plants (including garden plants) cannot germinate or develop in this altered soil, while invasive species thrive.”
Spread by transport of mulch, compost and potted plants, the worms have been found throughout the state, but are concentrated along the shore and in Fairfield County, Ridge said in an interview with Hearst Connecticut Media Group.
Connecticut provides prime habitat, however, so state scientists and wildlife managers are sounding the alarm. The worms have the potential to cause great damage to forest floor ecosystems by changing the soil and also because they accumulate toxic metals such as mercury and lead, which are hazardous to birds and other animals that eat the worms.
Natives of Japan, jumping worms were imported to the Bronx Zoo in 1948 to feed platypuses. More recently, they were spread in New York after Hurricane Sandy through chipping of downed trees and movement of soil and mulch for biofuel and landfill cover.
Connecticut is “at the front of the wave” now in dealing with the invasive worms, Ridge said. She is developing management techniques with a scientist from the University of Vermont, but residents can take steps to curb the spread:
Since the worms are transported in pot soil, buy bare-root plants.
Avoid buying compost and mulch unless the seller can prove that the material has been heat-treated from 105-131 degrees for at least
three days.
Don’t buy worms for fish bait or vermicomposting unless certain they are not jumping worms. Do not buy worms on the internet.
There are no proven, established methods for controlling or exterminating jumping worms, Ridge wrote, but since they live in the upper 2 inches of soil, the worms can be killed by rototilling before May 30. Also, yellow mustard seed is an irritant that can flush the worms from soil, making hand-picking easier. Dump the worms in a pail of soapy water to kill them, Ridge advises.
The good news, Ridge said, is that a jumping worm predator, the hammerhead worm, has been found in Connecticut. The native of Southeast Asia with a fan-shaped head can tackle prey 55 times larger than itself, and jumping worms are high on the hammerheads’ diet.