On the islands, most of the animals live on or near ground, some live in the trees, and a very few live in fresh water pools or underground. Earthworms are encountered occasionally in damp areas—a swamp at Mogmog contains quite a few.
Arthopods or jointed-legged animals are fairly well represented throughout the atoll. The following insects have been observed: earwigs, two types of cockroaches, field crickets, grasshoppers (including a small red-legged and a large—2½ inches—black and yellow locust and a small coneheaded species), aphids or plant lice, small leaf hoppers, several types of medium-sized butterflies (including a swallowtail), a few moths, dragonflies, numerous species of beetles, house flies, blowflies, and small black flies, mosquitoes (both Culex and Aedes), and several species of ants.
Scorpions have been found, a few centipedes, and numerous millipeds or "thousand leggers." Terrestial hermit crabs may be seen almost anywhere on the ground on any of the islands. Spiders are not abundant and are generally small in size, with the exception of a few wolf spiders.
Reptiles are common on most of Ulithi's islands. Species found include a large monitor lizard, several types of skinks or smooth-scaled lizards, and a small burrowing snake, Monitor lizards were seen which were over five feet in length, grey and green in color, a beaded scale appearence, and a very long, forked tongue. They probably live on insects, rodents, and other smaller lizards. Skinks here are of several kinds. A small, azure-tailed species
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