I doubt that they are killing the peas. Without seeing them myself, I can't really be sure. But chances are, those are simply newborn earthworms. Have you had very cold weather. Could it be that the peas simply aren't sprouting due to temperatures? Have you found these little worms actually tunneling in the seed?

George
Tahlequah, OK

I had the same sort of thing happen, although most of my peas did sprout, there were a few gaps. I dug those up and found many tiny worms and millipedes. Unless you look very closely, you won't notice that they are millipedes. I think these guys can be a problem when sprouting peas or beans, and I have loads of them in my soil. I think the problem is that peas take a long time to sprout in cool weather and that gives them time to be eaten by soil-dwellers. Some people will say the real problem is that the peas are rotting, and the millipedes aren't to blame, but I think this is only partially true. To minimize this problem I sprout my peas for three days (no more) indoors in advance of some forcasted, relatively warm weather. I want them to be growing when I plant them and to continue growing right away. If that happens, predation will be minimal, cuz other than peas and beans, the millipedes aren't really a problem.

I guess I got lucky....I planted my peas and then a cold snap hit. My peas took a little while to come up, but they sprouted early last week, well about 75% or so. Good enough for me! I don't expect much more than that with direct sowing.

Could be root maggots. They got mine too.

I stumbled upon a solution to this problem (root maggots or something eating my pea seeds).

The first batch of peas I planted last spring got mostly eaten before sprouts appeared above the surface. I replanted and then threw a few extra seeds into another part of the garden that was covered in wood-based compost (which had been used as a mulch over the preceding winter). The ones in the wood compost sprouted and the others mostly got eaten by small white worms (root maggots?)

Anyways, then I planted a third time. This time I put about a one-half inch layer of wood-based compost on top of the soil, placed the pea seeds on top, and covered with another half inch of the same compost. Just to test the idea, I also planted some more pea seeds directly in the soil as before. The ones in the wood compost germinated at a very high rate, whereas the others all got eaten again. Even though wood compost is probably not the best for vegetable gardening, the peas were able to extend healthy roots down into the soil and produce a good crop of peas.

My wood-based compost is from our local landfill, which collects yard debris, composts it, and then sells it. It is mostly derived from evergreen trees and brush (pine and juniper trees and needles.) It is similar in consistency to bark mulch that has rotted for a year or two in the garden.

Note I also cover my pea beds with mesh to keep the birds away from my germinating peas, and have found this to be very important. Once the green shoots are above the ground, the birds lose interest, but they love the sprouts and can find them before my feeble human eyes (or nose) can.

What can I use to get rid of the white worms on the pea seeds?

Seems like you have the bean seed maggot. http://ento.psu.edu/extension/factsheets/bean-seed-maggot. The easiest way to deal with seed maggots of any type is to use treated seed.

In my experience, the symptoms mentioned in the original post do not necessarily mean that the "tiny worms" killed the seed. It may be that the seed was already dead from other causes, and worms are consuming the rotting remains. I have observed this in my beans & soybeans, when the seed proved to be already dead, or when heavy rains drowned the first planting. Subsequent plantings, in drier/warmer soil, had good germination, with no visible worm infestation.

Northwestern PA 1st peas planted in spring none came up but had started 6 early and the transplants didn't do good either so figured it was too close to leeks. So tried a 2nd crop in August(never tried 2nd crop before). Planted in 2 raised beds instead and only 5 of about 65 peas sprouted so dug some up and found tiny white/translucent more like baby worms (super tiny 1/8-1/4")not maggots. and seeds were mostly mush. So wasn't sure if these came on the seeds or what(two different seed packs?) but planted remaining seeds in black plastic seed starters with different soil and after only a few(6 outta 18) sprouted about an inch tall decided to look at the seeds and found more of the worms they seem to be tunneling into the seeds? while transplanting the sprouts into the beds realized the bed I hadn't dug into had what looked like 1/4-1/3" white millipedes (have dark red/brown ones not sure if the white ones are immature versions or not?) looking into that next. But my mom said there was a saying she can't remember the entire thing but said when planting pea seeds plant 3 in each spot one for seed one for bird feed and one for....I'm guessing it's millipede? does anyone know the saying?

Upon further investigation I'm 99.99999% sure it's millipedes. (Not symphlans because of how they have antennas that curl down not so long and rounded at other end not like extra legs or pointed at the other end. The legs match milipedes and found lots of different sizes. found the tiniest ones I would need a microscope to look at to see if they had legs. they also start out more white/translucent and get darker as they get bigger. There must be a gazillion of the tiniest ones.(Difficult to separate them from the soil without killing them then once separate they seem to just stop moving) The smallest ones that I can see the legs on if disturbed will curl into the spiral also! The symphlans seem to be deep/deeper in the soil they have different shape and I think they're only white? Read article from 1983 from penn state. Plus I have noticed way more millipedes this year. And this is the first year I used mulch on top on the weed barrier which one search result was saying that's the perfect breeding ground for the millipedes. Go figure! I can't be sure if the babies caused the seeds not to sprout or if they got too wet and that's why they started using the seeds for food. I think I remember one result saying if there are too many millipedes they will feed on plants/sprouts that aren't rotting...

You can use peroxide when watering. Peroxide will kill fungus, bacteria, eggs and larvae and doesn't hurt the roots or the plant.

Mix 1 part peroxide 3 parts water, make sure it's 3% peroxide and make sure the soil is completely saturated.