A destructive,fast-moving invaderis wriggling its way into yards across the US, and officials say Californians should be on alert.
Agriculture authorities are sounding the alarm over the Asian jumping worm, a highly invasive species that’salready been spotted in multiple states, including the Golden State.
“The jumping worms’ hyper-activity degrades the soil structure, can harm plant roots and accelerate soil drying. This creates a ‘nutrient-poor paradox’ where nutrients are present but unavailable to plants. This can further exacerbate drought conditions, which the state is already in,” the Colorado Department of Agriculture said in a press release.
The worms are easy to spot, and hard to forget.
They’re smooth, dark gray or brown, with a distinctive flat, milky-white band circling their bodies near the head.
Bridging thegap between a gardener’s nightmare and a Klingon’s dream, reports indicate that the invasive Asian jumping worm can flip its body a foot into the air, a violent thrashing behavior that perfectly mirrors the legendaryStar Trek delicacy, Gagh.
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They also have a bizarre escape tactic, if grabbed by the tail, they can snap it off to get away.
Even more alarming is how quickly they multiply.
The species reproduces without mating, meaning every worm is capable of producing offspring on its own.
Source: California Post – Breaking California News, Photos & Videos
