Summary of Jumping Worm Grant Activity

Summary of Grant Activity

Activity 1 - Determine what pesticides, chemicals, and cultural practices to use in JW IPM programs.

Standard acute toxicology protocols for creating dose-response curves to calculate the median lethal concentration
(LC50) will be performed for soil amendments, such as sulfur (Duiker and Stehouwer 2008) and tea seed meal (Potter et
al. 2010), microbial pesticides, such as Beauveria bassiana (Nouri-Aiin and Görres 2021) and Metarhizium anisopliae
(Copping 2004), slug pesticides, such as iron phosphate (Edwards et al., 2008, Dörler et al. 2019), and the conventional
insecticide carbaryl, as a positive control (Gupta and Saxena 2003, Gupta et al. 2011). As we learn about the life history
and production of cocoons, we will add cocoons to the bioassays either with adults or on their own. Cocoons are
produced in summer and fall.

The optimal soil for JW survival and growth will be used in bioassays. Bioassay length will be the standard 4 days (96hr)
on adults, and later eggs and cocoons. Containers with low mortality, will be monitored daily for an additional 4 weeks
to ascertain additional mortality over time. Tea seed meal is used in Europe and the US on golf courses to kill worms, but it is not registered as a pesticide. We cannot promote tea seed meal as a pesticide without EPA registration.

Activity 2 - Determine non-target effects of treatments on native plants, soil decomposers, and bees.

Understanding the toxicity of the treatments to non-target insects that live in soil are necessary. We will use single
species experiments on adult carabid beetles, larval stratiomyid flies, psocids, and sowbugs, as well as soil nesting
bumblebees. The same protocols and treatments will be used as in Activity 1.

Understanding the toxicity of these treatments on plant roots in soil are necessary. Once we determine the best
chemical and dose, we will perform a 4 -week bioassays as described above, with native plants (gayfeather, anise
hyssop, and milkweed), geranium, and hosta in containers and in the field to determine if the mustard drench and
chemicals affect plant roots, growth, or mortality.

Once we have determined an effective chemical dose and the benefits of a mustard drench, we will test the chemicals
on mulch piles at the UM Experiment Station (AES), St Paul, parks (3 collaborative parks ), MN Arboretum, and MNLA
nursery collaborators that have JW present.

Determining non-target effects of the treatments is important so that natural ecosystems, native species, and processes like decomposition are not affected or altered.

Activity 3 - Determine tea seed meal active ingredients and concentrations that are effective in killing JW

Currently, tea seed meal, a soil amendment, is used like compost tea and is applied to the litter and watered in to kill
JW. Unfortunately, tea seed meal is not registered as a JW pesticide, and we cannot advertise its use as such. We must
use these chemical data to discuss EPA registration through the USDA IR4 program.

We will use High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC)-Mass Spectroscopy (MS) techniques to identify the chemical profile and create various polar fractions and to test them for activity against JW, such as the saponin named lancemaside A (Ahmed and Wang 2015).

Tea seed meal will be extracted into fractions and then evaporated. Active fraction will be analyzed by HPLC-MS to
identify the chemical profile and concentration. HPLC spectroscopic techniques will be used to collect the different
saponins and other chemicals in tea seed meal that have properties that kill JW. These fractions are then used in
bioassays to determine if the chemical kills the JW at what concentration. Also, we will determine the variation in
saponin types and concentrations in different bags of tea seed meal (n=30).

Results

Feeding trial results

graph showing mortality data for the first RW experiment in 2024, with the most successful treatment being #7, worm food, by a large margin — **Exp1A. Mean number of red wiggler worms (RW) adults and juveniles Sept. 20, 2024.** Trt 7 (+ worm food) had the highest number of worms, followed by trt 1 (control), trt 5 (+ lettuce), and trt 4 (+ bean sprouts).

graph showing mortality data for the second RW experiment, conducted during 2025, with the most successful treatment being #7, worm food, by a large margin. — **Exp2A. Mean number of red wiggler worms (RW) adults and juveniles Mar. 21, 2025.** Trt 7 (+ worm food) had the highest number of worms, followed by trt 1 (control) and trt 3 (- manure compost).

graph showing mortality data for the third RW experiment, conducted during 2025, with none of the treatments producing significant results in relation to the other treatments. — **Exp3A. Mean number of red wiggler worms (RW) adults and juveniles Apr. 24 2025.** The results from this experiment were not significant, as all treatments had generally the same amount of mortality throughout.

graph showing weight data for the second RW experiment, conducted during 2025, with the most successful treatment being #5, lettuce. — **Exp2Aw. Mean weight of red wiggler worm (RW) per adult per treatment, per wk. starting March 21, 2025.** Trt 5 (+ lettuce) has the greatest increase from the starting weight by the end of the experiment, followed by trt 6 (+ chicken grit) and trt 7 (+ worm food).

graph showing weight data for the third RW experiment, conducted during 2025, with the most successful treatment being #5, lettuce. — **Exp3Aw. Mean weight difference of one red wiggler worm (RW) adult per treatment, per wk subtracted from the starting weight starting Apr. 24-29, 2025.** Trt 5 (+ lettuce) has the greatest increase from the starting weight by the end of the experiment, followed by trt 6 (+ chicken grit) and trt 4 (+ bean sprouts).

graph showing mortality data for the first NC experiment in 2024, which includes only the first four treatments, with the most successful treatment being #3, without composted manure. — **Exp1B. Mean number of nightcrawler worms (NC) adults and juveniles Sept. 20, 2024.** Trt 3 (- manure compost) had the highest number of worms, followed by trt 2 (-mushroom compost) and trt 1 (control).

graph showing mortality data for the second NC experiment, conducted during 2025, with the none of the treatments producing significant results in relation to the other treatments. — **Exp2B. Mean number of night crawler worms (NC) adults and juveniles Feb. 6, 2025.** Trt 3 (- manure compost) had the highest number of worms, followed by trt 4 (+ bean sprouts) and trt 1 (control).

graph showing mortality data for the third NC experiment, conducted during 2025, with the most successful treatment being #2, without mushroom compost. — **Exp3B. Mean number of night crawler worms (NC) adults and juveniles Apr. 25 2025.** Trt 2 (- mushroom compost) has the highest number of worms, folowed most closely by trt 7 (+ worm food), trt 6 (+ chicken grit), and trt 3 (- composted manure).

graph showing weight data for the second NC experiment, conducted during 2025, with the most successful treatment being #6, chicken grit. — **Exp2Bw. Mean weight difference night crawler worm (NC) adult per treatment, per adult per treatment, per wk. starting March 21, 2025.** Trt 6 (+ chicken grit) showed the greatest increase from the start of the experiment from the starting weight, followed by trt 7 (+ worm food) and trt 5 (+ lettuce).

graph showing weight data for the third NC experiment, conducted during 2025, with the most successful treatment being #7, worm food, followed closely by treatment #6, chicken grit. — **Exp3Bw. Mean weight difference night crawler worm (NC) adult per treatment, per wk subtracted from the starting weight. starting Apr. 25-30, 2025.** Trt 7 (+ worm food) showed the greatest increase from the start of the experiment from the starting weight, followed by trt 6 (+ chicken grit) and trt 4 (+ bean sprouts).

graph showing mortality data for the first JW experiment in 2024, with the most successful treatment being #7, worm food, but with all treatments being generally unsuccessful.. — **Exp1C. Mean number of jumping worms (JW) adults and juveniles Sept. 20, 2024.** Trt 7 (+ worm food) had the highest number of worms, followed by trt 5 (+ lettuce), trt 6 (+ chicken grit), and trt 1 (control).

all mortality graphs put together on one slide and the treatments listed with them. — All mortality graphs and descriptions of treatments.

all weight graphs put together on one slide. — All weight graphs.

Summary of Grant Activity

Results

Feeding trial results

Outreach Activity/Materials