If you see a worm with a white band around it, kill it ASAP
Thereâs a stealthy army invading many parts of the United States, and all of its troops are unarmed. Literally. They donât even have a backbone.
Many local ecosystems in North America are becoming feeding and breeding grounds for one really creepy critter. Itâs called the jumping worm.
Just the sight of this pink, slimy worm wriggling on the soil is enough to make most people recoil.
But just how big a problem are they?
Well, letâs just say weâre gonna have to open up a big can of wormsâŠ
These wriggly little jerks are awfully good at avoiding being detected. Itâs pretty hard to catch a culprit thatâs small enough to hide in the soil. This just makes them even more of a problem.
Belonging to the genus Amynthas, jumping worms are voracious and unrelenting. They will eat up any trace of plant matter â fresh or decaying, that ends up on the soil.
These arenât your everyday friendly earthworms.
That means no crunchy leaves for you to step on and no plant litter for any other critters that need them either. Sucks, doesnât it?
Jumping worms will consume any trace of nutrients in the soil, which spells bad news for the soil. Without nutrients, the soil becomes coarse, granule-like, and unable to grow anything.
When the worms invade, the soil develops a âcoffee grindâ consistency.
Coupled with the fact that the worms can reproduce asexually â that is, without the need to mate, it kind of explains why theyâre such a massive problem. Jumping worms are an invasive species from Asia. The rich soils of North America and lack of natural predators made it the perfect place for them to invade.
As for the name, âJumping wormsâ arenât really jumping. Itâs more like theyâre wriggling themselves with enough intensity to get airborne for a second or two.
Ecologist Brad Herrick explained many bits of the wormsâ ecology to Inside Edition. He noted that the worms can get airborne to about an inch off the ground.
Pretty respectable for how small they are.
But big dangers can come in small packages, and the jumping worms are no exception. Their destructive path leaves much of the soil dead in the ecosystem. With all the plant matter they eat up, thereâs nothing for birds to build nests with or for other, less intrusive bugs, to eat.
Such is the nature of invasive species.
They thrive where they donât belong, and the native species are the ones that have to pay for it. So what can we do about it? Is there any way to stop these things?
Do we have to go all Doom slayer on them? You know, rip and tear until itâs done?
Well, surprisingly, the answer isâŠkind of. Herrick suggests that when you see one of these worms, identifiable by a distinct white ring around the neck, you should bag them up and toss them in the garbage. Or kill them some other way. Just donât use them as fish bait.
Thereâs a way to get rid of them.
The answer is mustard.
About 1/3 a cup of it to be exact. Mix it with water and pour it into the soil. Itâll irritate their skin and send them wriggling out. Then you can let them have it.
Bred Herrick also encourages people to stop and think if weâre helping spread them even more. Their eggs can slip into the heels of your boots pretty easily, and you could unknowingly help propagate them by taking them to new places.
So give your boots a good old cleaning and brushing, just to be sure.
If you have the courage, you can watch a detailed video about these destructive worms down below. Remember to find someone to share this article with too!
Watch the video below!
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Source: Inside Edition on YouTube, Amynthas on Wikipedia, Smithsonian Magazine
