But pick it up or watch one after it gets annoyed – and you’ll see it banging and hopping. “They’re going to jump, move and strangle in a way that ‘s just weird, if you’ve never seen it before,” said Kristen Noel, a board supervisor at the Nova Scotia Handicraft Council. The invasive Asian jumping worm was first discovered in Nova Scotia.
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It was found in a tropical houseplant bought last month in the Halifax area by a graduate student who, incidentally, was studying earthworms. The story goes on under the ad Stephen Paterson, a graduate student at Saint Mary University, said that while he “traveled long distances” studying non-native earthworms, he had no idea that an invasive species lived in the soil of his house plant. “I noticed an earthworm popping its head out of the ground one morning and, as a earthworm researcher, I dug it up to see what kind it was,” he said. “The worm was a minor and could not be identified, but as soon as I had it in my hands it started to squeeze wildly, which made me realize that it was probably a kind of jumping worm.” He said he then pulled the plant out of the pot and began picking up dozens of worms from the soil. It was estimated that there were over 100 in the pot.
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“Unfortunately I could not find a fully mature person, so we are still not sure what kind he was. “We know it is some kind of worm that jumps and we are waiting for results from DNA analysis to confirm the species,” he said. His teacher, Erin Cameron, said it was crazy for a earthworm researcher to make this discovery. It also led her to wonder how widespread the species is already in the countryside. The story goes on under the ad “I was skeptical that worms were jumping, so I asked him to bring me some so we could see under the microscope,” he explained. “It simply came to our notice then. “It’s quite a coincidence that one of the few people in the province who works on earthworms would have found them, so maybe there are more people out there with worms jumping on their plants.” Trending Stories
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Damage to the ecosystem
Cameron said the earthworms that jumped were originally from East and Southeast Asia and were first introduced to North America by human activities such as the exchange of plants and soils. He noted that they first met in Canada around 2018 in Windsor, OD, as well as in New Brunswick last fall. Jumping worms can reach higher densities and reproduce faster than other earthworms. As they dig in and consume organic matter, the soil they leave behind turns into dry, granular material, like coffee grounds. The story goes on under the ad “They degrade soil quality very quickly by eating with all the nutrients in the soil and their shells being left behind,” explained Noel of the Nova Scotia Species Invasion Board. “The soil is turning into an ecosystem that has a huge lack of nutrients. “But these worms can also displace native species such as fungi and bacteria and amphibians.” This is a scenario that scientists hope to prevent. “There is no good way to eliminate them once they are in place, so informing people now and avoiding imports is the key to controlling them,” Cameron said. According to the Master Naturalist Program in New York, jumping worms are widespread in much of the northeastern, southeastern, and midwestern United States. Both Cameron and Noel urge plant owners to watch out for jumping worms and to approach and send samples if they find anything unusual. “Hopefully at the moment, we hope it will concentrate somewhat in the Halifax borough because that was where the factory was,” Noel said. “And if there were more worms in this plant load, hopefully it can be isolated in this nursery. “But at the moment we really do not know.” The story goes on under the ad
How to locate one
Noel said the council could give instructions on how to dispose of the worm and the soil. Essentially the worms can be placed in a plastic bag and then in the freezer for 24 hours. As for how to spot one, worms are usually gray or brown. The narrow band around their body is smooth and has a white or gray color, unlike other types where the tape is raised and pink. The biggest sign, and the inspiration behind their name, is their behavior. They jump and run, and can also throw their tail in defense. 1:06 Coordinator of aquatic invasive species for the illegal release of domestic fish Previous Video Next Video © 2022 Global News, part of Corus Entertainment Inc.
