Invasive jumping worms damage U.S. soil and threaten forests

The writhing wrigglers devour leaf litter, changing soils and ecosystems as they go

a handful of invasive Asian jumping worms

Brad Herrick of the University of Wisconsin–Madison Arboretum holds a handful of invasive Asian jumping worms. Two of the three invasive worm species spreading across the United States have been found in Wisconsin: Amynthas agrestis and A. tokioensis.

UW–Madison Arboretum

What could be more 2020 than an ongoing invasion of jumping worms?

These earthworms are wriggling their way across the United States, voraciously devouring protective forest leaf litter and leaving behind bare, denuded soil.