Agriculture officials in Colorado have a warning: look out for Asian jumping worms.
The Colorado Department of Agriculture issued an invasive pest alert this week for the invertebrates sometimes called the “crazy worm” or “snake worm,” KDVR reported.
They are not your garden-variety earthworms and do not pose the benefits they do, such as adding nutrients for plants and aerating soil.
“The jumping worms’ hyper-activity degrades the soil structure, can harm plant roots and accelerate soil drying. This creates a ‘nutrient-poor paradox’ where nutrients are present but unavailable to plants. This can further exacerbate drought conditions, which the state is already in,” the agency said in a news release.
To see how they got their jumping worm name, Oregon State University shared a video of how active they are, even in a jar of water.
While the alert was issued recently, the worms are not new to the U.S., as the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Invasive Species Information Center said they have been in the U.S. since the late 1800s and invade habitats in the Northeast and Midwest.
In fact, the Cox Media Group National Content Desk reported on the pests in 2022, when they were found in 34 states.
While they’re pests, there are no effective ways of getting rid of them, the CDA said, according to KDVR. If you find them, put them in a container of vinegar or rubbing alcohol to kill them, the University of Maryland said.
The worms are not just slithering around Colorado. They’ve been found in other states such as Texas, KIAH reported.
WDAF said they’ve also been found in Kansas and Missouri.
According to the EDD Maps compiled by the University of Georgia’s Center for Invasive Species and Ecosystem Health, the states include:
- California
- Florida
- Georgia
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Minnesota
- New Hampshire
- New Jersey
- Ohio
- Wisconsin
They live for only one season and hatch in late spring. They grow in the summer and lay eggs in August, the University of Minnesota Extension Office said.
They can grow to between 1 1/2 inches and 8 inches long, or longer. They may look slightly similar to nightcrawlers, but clitellum is about 1/3 down the body of the worm and is white, and smooth, not bumped up like those of other worms.
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