While worms typically stick to slithering on the ground, environmental officials are warning of an invasive species that has the ability to jump a foot in the air.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture is asking people to be on the look out for the jumping worms, Amynthas agrestis, which go by several different names. The worms not only jump but also move like snakes, thrash around, and even shed their tail when fleeing danger.
“Invasive Asian jumping worms got their name because of the way they thrash around,” Forest Service researcher Mac Callaham said in a post by the USDA last year. “They can flip themselves a foot off the ground.”
Environmental experts shared that despite worms usually being a welcome sign in soil, not all are wanted residents, and the jumping worms are one species known to worsen soil and make it “inhospitable” to native plants that might grow there.
The invasive species is believed to have first entered the country in the early to mid-1900s from eastern Asia, being transported to new areas in shipments of mulch or potted plants.
Other names for the jumping worms include Alabama jumpers, Jersey wriggles, wood eel, crazy worms, snake worms, and more.
As of last summer, the worms have been spotted in more than 30 states but are often found in the eastern parts of the country and Canada, where the climate is most similar to their native Japan, according to experts.
“Jumping worms are well adapted to these humid continental and humid subtropical climates, and so they have a strong potential to invade the entire eastern half of the United States and parts of Canada,” the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station shared.
The worms are normally found in the top inch or two of the soil’s surface, located in debris and leaves, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources shared.
The most common places the worms will call home are yards, gardens, mulch, compost, and potted plants. They are most active in the summer months, as they eat and grow, becoming the most noticeable in late summer and early autumn.
There are several reasons why officials have deemed the worms invasive, from the waste it leaves behind that can “alter the texture and composition of soil” to the build-up of toxic metals in their systems, like mercury, cadmium, copper, and lead.
Altogether, the jumping worms create harsh conditions for native plants to grow and “negatively impact” the other animals in their environment that might feed on them.
If you find the worms, said to have a “smooth, glossy dark gray/brown color” and a cloudy white gray-colored band, officials say to destroy them by sealing them in a bag and throwing it in the trash.
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