Amynthas
Genus of annelid worms
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Amynthas is a genus of earthworms in the family Megascolecidae.[1] They are known as jumping worms, snake worms, or crazy worms because of their erratic thrashing behaviour when disturbed.[2][3][4][5] The genus is native to East Asia, but they are invasive in many areas of the United States.[3][5][6] They are a matter of concern in many states, as they disrupt the native forest ecology by affecting soil structure and chemistry.[3][7]
| Amynthas | |
|---|---|
| |
| Amynthas aspergillum (Taiwan) | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Annelida |
| Clade: | Pleistoannelida |
| Clade: | Sedentaria |
| Class: | Clitellata |
| Order: | Opisthopora |
| Family: | Megascolecidae |
| Genus: | Amynthas Kinberg, 1867 |
Appearance
Life cycle
Amynthas species' faster reproduction rate and their ability to reproduce asexually (parthenogenesis) has contributed to their spread into the United States.[10] The worms reach maturity in 60 days, which allows them to have two hatches per year.[10] Eggs are wrapped in small cocoons, which overwinter while the adults die off at the first freeze each year.[11] The young then emerge the next spring.[12]
Species
- Amynthas agrestis (Goto and Hatai, 1899)
- Amynthas alexandri (Beddard, 1900)
- Amynthas assimilis (Hong & Kim, 2002)
- Amynthas baikmudongensis (Hong, 2017)
- Amynthas borealis (Panha & Bantaowong, 2011)
- Amynthas comptus (Gates, 1932)
- Amynthas defecta (Gates, 1930)
- Amynthas dorualis
- Amynthas exiguus (Gates, 1930)
- Amynthas fucosus (Gates, 1933)
- Amynthas gracilis (Kinberg, 1867)
- Amynthas hilgendorfi (Michaelsen, 1892)
- Amynthas hupbonensis (Stephenson, 1931)
- †Amynthas japonicus (Horst, 1883)
- Amynthas kinmenensis
- Amynthas longicauliculatus (Gates, 1931)
- Amynthas luridus (Shen, Chang, & Chih, 2019)[13]
- Amynthas mekongianus (Cognetti, 1922)
- Amynthas minimus
- Amynthas mirifius
- Amynthas moakensis
- Amynthas morrisi (Beddard, 1892)
- Amynthas mujuensis
- Amynthas obsoletus
- Amynthas papulosus (Rosa, 1896)
- Amynthas phatubensis (Panha & Bantaowong, 2011)
- Amynthas polyglandularis
- Amynthas pulvinus
- Amynthas pyeongchangensis (Hong & James, 2009)
- Amynthas ruiyenensis (Shen, Chang, & Chih, 2019)[13]
- Amynthas sangumburi
- Amynthas siam (Blakemore, 2011)
- Amynthas srinan (Panha & Bantaowong, 2011)
- Amynthas taiwumontis
- Amynthas tessellatus
- Amynthas tokioensis (Beddard, 1892)[13]
- Amynthas tontong (Panha & Bantaowong, 2011)
- Amynthas wuhumontis
- Amynthas wujhouensis