“They clone themselves, thrash violently like rattlesnakes when handled, can leap 30cm in the air and are now in California.” This is not the trailer for a new Hollywood blockbuster but the description that the San Francisco Gate fact of the threat that Asian jumping worms pose to the great state on the West Coast of the United States.
From their Latin name Amyntas, these worms are native to Japan and the Korean Peninsula. Brought to America by the importation of certain landscape plants, they were first spotted in Wisconsin in 2013. After heading to the East Coast, “they headed west”, reports the San Francisco newspaper. In California, the first specimen was identified last July.
Theatrical behavior
In its American edition, The Guardian specifies that these worms, which can measure up to 20 cm, “are distinguished by their theatrical demeanor” and their ability to detach pa