earthworms

6 Stories

Got Milk? This Amphibian Does
Got Milk? This
Amphibian Does
NEW STUDY
Mar 8, 2024 9:18 AM CST

Got Milk? This Amphibian Does

Scientists say wormlike caecilians offer this surprising sustenance to their young, like mammals

(Newser) - Researchers already knew that baby ringed caecilians, a wormlike amphibian that lives burrowed underneath the earth, gain some of their nutrition by feeding on the skin of their own mother once or twice a week. But when a team out of Brazil studying the creature (also known as Siphonops annulatus)...

Latest Threat to Forests: Invasive Jumping Earthworms

It turns out earthworms are not always so great for the soil

(Newser) - Earthworms have long been popular with gardeners and fishermen, and no doubt the slimy wigglers play an important role in many ecosystems. However, invasive worms can wreak havoc in forests, especially if they’re Asian jumping earthworms. Also known as crazy worms, snake worms, Georgia jumpers, Jersey wigglers, and sharks...

California's New Scourge: Creepy Jumping Worms
Destructive Jumping Worms
Are Now in California
in case you missed it
May 28, 2022 10:45 AM CDT

Destructive Jumping Worms Are Now in California

They were spotted in the state in July, and they have ecologists worried

(Newser) - It sounds like a decent setup for a horror movie: an area plagued with "extremely active, aggressive" worms that can jump a foot into the air and have "voracious appetites." That's a reality California is staring down right now, according to multiple reports on recent sightings...

Wisconsin's New Scourge: 'Crazy Worms'?

Invasive species has done what locals hoped it wouldn't—survive winter

(Newser) - With 5,000 or so species of earthworms wriggling about the planet, a few are bound to be nastier than the rest. So is the case with Amynthas agrestis, aka the "Asian crazy worm" or "Alabama jumper," an invasive pest found in Japan, Korea, and—for five...

Meet the New Space Pioneers: Tiny Worms

They survive and reproduce at space station

(Newser) - If humans ever manage to colonize Mars or some other far-flung planet, a tiny roundworm may show the way. Scientists sent 4,000 worms (C. elegans for the science-minded) up to the International Space Station, where they managed to not only survive but produce 12 new generations over three months,...

Alien Earthworms Threaten Our Forests

One reason for their spread: Fishermen tossing bait

(Newser) - Worms may seem like they would be natural friends of the forest, but some alien invaders are causing problems in the Northeast, say researchers at Colgate University. When exotic species of earthworm are introduced to America's northern forests, they chow down on the organic "forest litter" on the...

6 Stories