Jumping Worms In California Are Concerning Scientists

It seems jumping worms have invaded California, which is causing concern among scientists.

According to the local news station KSBW, these worms can clone themselves and jump about a foot in the air, which is concerning not just scientists, but residents in California.

According to KSBW, the jumping worm is officially known as the Asian jumping worm. They have also been called crazy snake worms, Alabama jumpers, and Jersey wrigglers. Scientists are concerned that the "invasive species" are going to pose a significant threat to California.

The species is native to both Japan and the Korean Peninsula. They reportedly made their way to the United States through landscape plants that have been imported from the region. They were first spotted in Wisconsin almost a decade ago in 2013. Since then, they've been spotted in the Northeast. However, it looks like they're making their way back to California.

A California Department of Food and Agriculture entomologist reportedly identified a jumping worm in Napa County in July 2021. A recent CDFA report shared by the news station warned that these worms are "extremely active, aggressive, and have voracious appetites. They can not only eat through thick layers of leaf debris, but also bird nests on the forest floor.

The CDFA is not only worried about forest life. They're also worried that these worms can hurt biodiversity in nurseries, parks, and gardens.

In a US Forest Service blog post, a forest service researcher explained that these worms can change the soil and are able to "reengineer the ecosystems around them."

According to the CDFA report, these crawly critters can jump a foot in the air and "trash immediately when handled, behaving more like a threatened snake than a worm." They reported that the worm can sometimes break or shed its tail when they are caught.

There is currently no direct approach to getting rid of them. Scientists have admitted that the worms are extremely unpredictable and they do not know what a possible infestation might look like.

Tim McCay, a biology professor at Colgate University told New York Upstate that they can spread quickly once they inhabit an area. McCay explained, "It seems like once they make it onto a street, it's pretty quickly that all the gardens on that street have them."

Scientists are warning residents to look for a distinct white ring around the body, close to the head, that identifies a jumping worm from another kind of earthworm. If residents do spot a jumping worm in the garden, Cornell University's Master Gardener Sandy Vanno advises residents to "handpick and destroy" the worms.

Vanno explained, "Bag them up and throw them in the trash, or place them in a bag and leave them out in the sun."