Invasive Jumping Worms: Protecting Turf Performance from Soil Collapse

Across the Northeast, more turf professionals are encountering a new and often misunderstood pest: jumping worms. From athletic fields and commercial properties to wooded areas, residential lawns and landscape beds, these invasive earthworms are changing the landscape.

While earthworms are usually considered beneficial, jumping worms are different. Their feeding habits can undermine soil structure, reduce turf performance, and increase long-term maintenance costs.

What Are Jumping Worms?

Jumping worms—also known as Asian jumping worms, snake worms, or crazy worms—are invasive species native to East Asia. They were introduced through the horticultural trade and now spread primarily through:

Nursery stock
Mulch and compost
Topsoil and fill
Equipment and foot wear

Unlike traditional European earthworms that are beneficial, jumping worms are destructive and live and feed almost entirely in the upper soil profile—exactly where roots and soil biology are most active.

They complete their life cycle in one season. Adults die each winter, but cocoons overwinter and hatch in spring and are most noticeable by August/September when they are already established. Cocoons are resistant to cold and drought, allowing populations to rebuild rapidly.

How to Identify Them in the Field

For crews and managers, early recognition is critical, and jumping worms have distinct characteristics. Mature they are about 4-5″ long and when disturbed, they thrash violently and may leap off the soil surface or in your hand. This behavior is unlike any native or European species. They have a light-colored, smooth band near the head that wraps fully around the body and are typically darker (brownish, greyish) and shinier than standard night crawlers. Their castings resemble dry coffee grounds or coarse crumbs. This texture is one of the most reliable warning signs. Most jumping worm activity occurs in the top 1–4 inches of soil, especially under mulch, leaf litter, and turf.

If you notice loose, granular soil and poor turf stability, jumping worms are often the cause. They can also attract digging predators such as skunks and opossums. Sites of infestation will often show both soil failure and animal damage.

Why Jumping Worms are a problem

Healthy turf depends on stable soil aggregates, organic matter, and balanced pore space. Jumping worms consume organic material so rapidly that they prevent this structure from forming. For managed turf, this means reduced resiliency and shorter recovery windows. Fields and lawns may look good but still under perform because roots lack a stable growing medium.

Because organic matter is consumed too quickly, biology and soil structure are negatively impacted, and nutrients are not available to the grass plant. Jumping worm affected soils can also drain too quickly and rapidly lose moisture. During hot, dry summers, this results in faster wilt, higher irrigation demand, and more frequent turf failure. This can lead to “chasing growth” with inputs that don’t deliver long-term improvement.

Common management practices here in the northeast unintentionally favor potential spread. With our poor soil conditions, we commonly rely on compost to improve soil conditions and compost can be a potential host site. We also have dense residential forest interfaces which jumping worms favor, allowing large areas for them to spread to. Once introduced, populations spread quietly and persist.

What to do?

There is currently no reliable chemical control. Management focuses on prevention, monitoring, and soil resilience. It is important to inspect nursery stock before planting, as well as, be aware of source materials for composts and mulches. Topdressing with compost may unknowingly spread cocoons. To avoid spread, regularly clean mower decks, aerator tines, and tools between job sites. I you know you have a problem, even clean the treads of your shoes. Small sanitation steps can prevent large future losses, and early detection helps protect surrounding properties.

If you suspect you have a problem, try mixing a gallon of water and 1/3 cup of ground yellow mustard seed and pouring that slowly over the soil/area with suspicious castings. If present in that location, the worms will be irritated (not killed) and brought to the surface where they can be collected for identification. Remove and destroy any adult jumping worms by dropping them into a bucket of soapy water or sealing them in a plastic bag.1

Managing turf programs with a focus on improving soil conditions is important as biologically active soils are more resistant to degradation. A focus on maintaining steady organic matter inputs from product selection and cultural practices is key. Deep rooting should also be encouraged through proper mowing, irrigation, and compaction reduction activities. Long-term stability matters more than short-term color.

Bottom Line

Jumping worms fundamentally change soil structure but aren’t just an ecological issue—they’re a management and liability concern.

They can lead to:

Higher irrigation costs
More reseeding and renovation
Reduced field play ability
Increased client complaints
Shortened turf lifespan
Threat to forested areas

As pressures from heat, drought, and traffic continue to increase, protecting soil structure is no longer optional—it’s central to successful turf management.