Invasive jumping worms pose risk

ONTARIO — They say the early bird gets the worm, but what if it’s a jumping worm?

That’s right, amid rumours that we may be inundated with giant three inch spiders this summer, comes the revelation that the soil-wrecking pheretimoid jumping worm is now making its home in Ontario lawns and gardens.

Ontario residents and gardeners have reported the worm on the Master Gardeners of Ontario Facebook group.

A pheretimoid jumping worm with its tell-tale white ring or clitellum.

In an article on cleannorth.org, Dr. Michael McTavish confirmed that a 2014 report cited four different species of the pheretimoid jumping worm in Essex County, including one report in Wheatley.

While research is still being done, jumping worms pose a great risk to Ontario gardens and particularly to northern forests.

According to the report, a jumping worm is like “a nightcrawler on steroids”, and instead of inching along like a normal earthworm, they snap their bodies like angry rattlesnakes.

The jumping worms have become a serious ecological threat to hardwood forests.

Officials ask that you do not move plant material to cottages or other properties that contain any worms.

Earthworms are an invasive species and the jumping worms have the ability to destroy the topmost layer of soils, turning leaves and other matter into coffee ground-like substance, which in turn destroys habitat for insects, amphibians, birds and native flowers.

You can identify a jumping worm by checking out their clitellum, which is a light colour band around the worm’s body. The jumping worm’s clitellum is usually closer to its head and a much lighter (almost white) colour.