GET GROWING!
BEWARE OF JUMPING WORMS! THEY CAN CAUSE LASTING DAMAGE
All earthworms in Ontario are non-native, but Jumping Worms (JWs) cause much more damage and spread much more quickly.
By LADYBUG
As though dire warnings about blacklegged ticks were not enough, now there are jumping worms? Our gardens are a hot bed of activity – and not all of it pleasant.
At a community garden club sale recently, master gardeners were distributing leaflets cautioning about the latest thing to watch out for.
The following is taken from the leaflet produced by Master Gardeners of Ontario. In 2022. So the darn things have been around for a few years, but I guess they’re newcomers to our neighbourhood, and hence the fresh alert.
A graph depicts their life cycle:
Juveniles in May/June.
Adults July-August-September.
Cocoons from November through April.
If you celebrated the presence of earthworms in your garden beds – sign of a healthy, thriving eco system! – think again.
According to the leaflet, all earthworms in Ontario are non-native, but Jumping Worms (JWs) cause much more damage and spread much more quickly.
And they look enough like other worms to make identification a little tough, specially for someone like me.
The leaflet, Spread the Word NOT the Worm!, provides helpful tips.
Only JWs can drop their tail.
Only JWs have a light band that wraps all around the body.
JWs move like a crazy snake when disturbed.
There are currently no controls or pesticides to stop these worms.
JWs die over winter, but their eggs survive in small cocoons and begin to hatch when temperatures reach 10°C. One JW cocoon is enough to infest a garden. They are most easily identified, when they mature (July-Oct).
Prevention strategies
Bait: Never use JWs for bait. Fish don’t like them and they don’t stay on a hook. Dispose of all unused bait in garbage, never on natural lands.
Arrive clean/Leave clean: Clean footwear before and after visiting any private, public garden or natural area.
Ask questions: Ask nurseries, landscaping companies and soil, compost and mulch providers how they are controlling JWs. If they know nothing about JWs, then be concerned and offer to share information with them.
Scout new soil: Check new mulch, compost, and soil for JWs.
New plants: Inspect the soil and roots before planting in your yard. Be aware that in spring, worms will be tiny and impossible to identify. Choose bare-root plants or grow from seeds when possible.
Safe disposal: Kill suspected JWs by freezing, leaving in a bag out in the sun, or soaking in vinegar or rubbing alcohol. Discard in garbage.
Infested soil: Soil can be placed in sealed plastic bags and left in the sun. Temperatures need to reach a min. 40°C for at least 3 days, before garden reuse.
In the same leaflet, Susan Sue-Ling writes that JWs, also known as Crazy Worms or Snake Worms, are considered an invasive species in Canada and the US. They are problematic because they live in the uppermost level of soil, consuming leaf litter so rapidly that loss of cover results, and nutrients are released too quickly to be beneficial to plants and trees.
Native plant habitats and under-story plants (e.g trillium, Canada may-flower, Lady’s Slipper) are threatened as well as the habitats of insects, amphibians, fungi and ground nesting birds.
JW castings (excrement) are dry, grainy, resemble coffee grounds, and destabilize the upper soil layer. Any seeds on the forest floor that are not consumed have difficulty germinating and thriving in this dense, altered soil. Gardens and plant nurseries face similar attacks from JWs since potted and bedding plants appear to wilt due to damage around their roots.
What do they look like? Similar to the common earthworm but much more active when disturbed.
They thrash around frenetically (hence the name “Crazy”) and can even lose a section of tail as part of their defense mechanism. They are darker in colour with a smooth, flat, paler, clitellum (band) which encircles their body. The clitellum on the common earthworm does not encircle its body, is slightly raised, ridged, and is almost the same colour as the rest of its body.
How are they spread? As adults, they can be transported from place to place in contaminated potted plants purchased or received from any source, fishing bait, and purchased mulch or soil which hasn’t been properly sterilized prior to sale. Cocoons are small (about the size of a poppy seed) and they can be transported in boot, shoe, or tire treads.
In Asia, where predator and prey have coexisted, natural enemies include birds, snails, turtles, frogs, and slugs. Since they are not native to North America, this process will be slower because potential predators are not yet fully acquainted with the thrashing behaviour of a worm when it is attacked.
Testing is being done on fungi and saponins (soaps such as Tea Seed meal) which may have some effect but this is still in the experimental stage.
We are therefore left with pointers for management including the following:
Education to ensure identification and how to limit spread of this invading species.
Carefully checking purchased soil, mulch, purchased plants, etc., for signs of worms or grainy excrement.
Ensuring that worms used for vermicomposting do not contain jumping worms.
Removing and destroying any of these worms that you find. They can be brought to the surface by using a mustard pour – one-third cup of mustard in 1 gallon of water, poured onto an area of 1 square foot of soil. Any worms will rise to the surface due to the irritation of the mustard. Dead worms should not be composted or placed in municipal yard waste collections as cocoons may be spread this way. If your property has a JW infestation, avoid sharing plants.
When visiting forested areas, keep to defined trails and pathways. Ensure that shoes/boots are properly cleaned as well as the paws of pets.
Hopefully, armed with this information, we can curtail the advance of the JW.
Make a difference by reporting JWs to Ontario’s Early Detection and Distribution Mapping:
www.eddmaps.org/ontario/
More info at gardenontario.org/jumping-worms/.