Identify and Report Jumping Worms in Maine
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 20 ก.ค. 2022
- Jumping worms have been found in the United States from Maine to South Carolina and west to Wisconsin. Active and damaging populations of jumping worms were discovered in Maine in 2014 in Augusta, Portland, and Boothbay. Jumping worms are widespread in Maine and have been found in 13/16 counties in Maine as of August 2023. We need your help to slow the spread of these destructive worms by reporting them when you see them and practicing good hygiene by cleaning soil from equipment and boots before leaving an area with jumping worms. A recent detection of jumping worms in a community garden in Bangor points to a commercial compost delivery as a means of establishment.
The implications of jumping worms establishing in Maine's forests and gardens are far reaching and devastating. The Jumping Worm Working Group (ME) wants your help in reporting jumping worms. Please visit survey123.arcgis.com/share/10... to report any infestations of jumping worms you find in Maine. You can also create an account on www.imapinvasives.org and report your findings there.
You can survey for jumping worms in your forests or gardens by creating a mustard powder solution that irritates worms and pushes them to the surface of the soil for relief. Mix a 1/3 cup ground mustard powder into 1 gallon of water. Clear leaf litter and debris from a 10 inch x 10 inch area without removing any worms. This will be your sampling area for the mustard solution. Slowly pour half of the solution over the soil. Within a minute or two, if present, earthworms will begin to appear. Jumping worms are easily identified by how quickly they move and thrash about, as shown in this video, as well as the white band (clittelum) that wraps around their body and is closer to the head than other earthworms. If you need help identifying whether or not you are seeing jumping worms, please take a clear photo or video of the worms that appear and contact UMaine Cooperative Extension.
Currently there are few known practical solutions for controlling jumping worms. Working groups like our and others in the United States are working to identify best management practices to slow the spread of jumping worms and looking for solutions for infested areas. Cornell University has a fact sheet for homeowners looking for answers on jumping worms that can be found here: ecommons.cornell.edu/handle/1...
For more information on jumping worms in Maine you can visit www.maine.gov/dacf/php/hortic....
University of Massachusetts Amherst recently published an extensive set of FAQs around jumping worms that can be found here ag.umass.edu/landscape/fact-s... - วิทยาศาสตร์และเทคโนโลยี
Do other worms have this banding? I remember finding worms with the band as a kid 30 years ago in Pittsburgh suburbs.
We hope to live in ME soon. Ugh. Not sure but we may have them at our house in Vermont. They are taking over! 😢
I just found this video after searching to see if too many worms are harmful to gardens. I have never seen this worm nor even seen the coffee ground-like residue it leaves behind, until this year. The ground was softened in an area where we cut down a tree, both around the stump and a huge circle a short distance from it. At first, I thought it was due to all the rain and the possibility of the stump and roots rotting quicker than normal. Just using my foot I moved the soil around and they were there. My hosta gardens are new to me and we have used a lot of seafood compost sold locally by the truckload. However not on this particular spot. Oakland Maine. :-(
It just takes 1 to put 300 eggs
Will mustard powder from brown mustard seed work or does it have to be yellow?
I just found them in my garden in Freeport
It's awesome
Just found them in Mount Vernon.
Infested here in Manchester, Me
Just found them in a bag of Coast of Maine compost!! I thought they heat sterilized this product but apparently not......I love their products but this is insane.
I believe I've introduced these worms via Coast of Maine compost, too. Did not have any issues in our garden until the season I used their compost. Really tragic.
Can you use them for fish bait?
No. This is how jumping worms spread. It is illegal to propagate or possess them without a wildlife importation permit from the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife.
Have chickens