Insects & Humidity (Springfield, Columbia, Joplin: fit in, crime, house)

[Fed up]

Well,these are my two biggest worry's about moving to Mo. I have friends in Sullivan and they have 3 generations there.My family(wife daughter and myself) are moving there as soon as my job here at Boeing runs out in about a year.(Long beach Ca.).I'm all for it and want a good Christen family oriented/crime free place to live.BUT.Everyone I talk to says I wont like it in Mo. Bugs..Bugs..Bugs.And Humidity.I havent ever lived where there is alot of humidityand/or/ticks,jiggers,etc.I'm not sure exactly where in Mo. we will be moving to.I need to be semi close to a larger city for employment,but still want to be rural and away from congestion,(dont we all?) But what is everyones opinion on the insects and humidity?Are there worse places than others? I see alot of the places we have looked at online that I like have ponds or springs.Dont these attract insects?I also love Dogs and have 4 and am worried about thier well-being as to flea's/ticks/etc. Any advice?Also Is it hard to be accepted being from Ca.? I am a pretty conservative person,(if ya know what I mean).So as far as that goes we should fit in.Any responses to my LONG Question would be looked forward to.Thanks.

[Ozarks21]

I have lived near KC, Columbia and now in Springfield. I can tell you that both the humidity and insects (at least mosquitos) are less of a problem in this area. I think this is in part due to being on a plateau and having rocky soil. Also, most of the water around here is moving.

Don't get me wrong, we have some serious humidity at times. And if you spend time in the woods or tall grass in the summer, the ticks and chiggers are a problem - nothing a little Off can't help with. Dogs should be treated with Frontline or Advantage.

If you like dry air year round (something I cannot tollerate) then the midwest is probably not for you.

[Fed up]

thanks for responding.

[MoMark]

Originally Posted by Fed up

Well,these are my two biggest worry's about moving to Mo. I have friends in Sullivan and they have 3 generations there.My family(wife daughter and myself) are moving there as soon as my job here at Boeing runs out in about a year.(Long beach Ca.).I'm all for it and want a good Christen family oriented/crime free place to live.BUT.Everyone I talk to says I wont like it in Mo. Bugs..Bugs..Bugs.And Humidity.I havent ever lived where there is alot of humidityand/or/ticks,jiggers,etc.I'm not sure exactly where in Mo. we will be moving to.I need to be semi close to a larger city for employment,but still want to be rural and away from congestion,(dont we all?) But what is everyones opinion on the insects and humidity?Are there worse places than others? I see alot of the places we have looked at online that I like have ponds or springs.Dont these attract insects?I also love Dogs and have 4 and am worried about thier well-being as to flea's/ticks/etc. Any advice?Also Is it hard to be accepted being from Ca.? I am a pretty conservative person,(if ya know what I mean).So as far as that goes we should fit in.Any responses to my LONG Question would be looked forward to.Thanks.

I'm originally from California and the bugs in Missouri are more varied. I saw my first stick insects the other day. I'm not fond of bugs either, but they really aren't an issue. The only ones that give me pause are the wasps and hornets which are very active. I'm constantly having to knock their mud nests off my brick walls and kill their larvae. Mosquitoes haven't been much of an issue this year (it's been dry). I hardly see flies, but spiders are numerous. There are also good insects..thousands of brightly colored butterflies. All over my flower beds I have dozens of butterflies every day at every moment. And in mid-summer, the lightning bugs were everywhere by the thousands, which are wonderful in the early to late evening. Really magical with their twinkling green flashes of light. As for humidity, it can be humid, even very humid at times, but it's not really any different than living in California on hot summer days where you go from your air-conditioned home to your air-conditioned car to drive to your air-conditioned job. Yeah, it's uncomfortably humid and hot at times, but not often. I personally love the weather here. It's cool at night, Summer is lemonade on the veranda and bbq perfect, Fall is spectacular, and winter is right in line with all the traditional Christmas specials, but milder for the most part than other Midwestern areas or the Northeast. I think you'd love it. Whoever is telling you you won't like Missouri has probably never lived here. And the chiggers are only temporarily an issue as they are a mite that only in their larvae stage are a problem for humans and animals, and then only in high weeds or forested areas, but they are easily washed off in the shower too. Ticks are a bigger issue and you've got to protect your dogs, but it's no worse than other areas really and Advantage etc. works well. Your dogs would be fine.

[formadmirer]

I don't live in MO (yet) but will be moving there soon. I have however visited the Springfield area 4 times while house hunting and did notice a couple of insect pecularities.
The first, and most forboding to me, was that MO has tarantulas! I have lived my whole life on the East coast and have never had to deal with more than a house spider, so the thought of coming across a tarantual around my home is somewhat terrifying to me.
Second, I noticed some very large ants there. I asked someone about them and they said that they will put a nasty bite on you. Based on the size of the easily visible pincers on their heads I would not doubt this to be true.
Aside from insects I also saw a recent TV show where they were talking about a rattlesnake problem that some parts of MO have.
I guess each area of the country has it's good and bad when it comes to creatures. I lived in central Florida for 10 years and there it was gators. And I guess given the choice between encountering a gator or a tarantula I'll take the spider any day!

[MoMark]

Originally Posted by Fed up

Well,these are my two biggest worry's about moving to Mo. I have friends in Sullivan and they have 3 generations there.My family(wife daughter and myself) are moving there as soon as my job here at Boeing runs out in about a year.(Long beach Ca.).I'm all for it and want a good Christen family oriented/crime free place to live.BUT.Everyone I talk to says I wont like it in Mo. Bugs..Bugs..Bugs.And Humidity.I havent ever lived where there is alot of humidityand/or/ticks,jiggers,etc.I'm not sure exactly where in Mo. we will be moving to.I need to be semi close to a larger city for employment,but still want to be rural and away from congestion,(dont we all?) But what is everyones opinion on the insects and humidity?Are there worse places than others? I see alot of the places we have looked at online that I like have ponds or springs.Dont these attract insects?I also love Dogs and have 4 and am worried about thier well-being as to flea's/ticks/etc. Any advice?Also Is it hard to be accepted being from Ca.? I am a pretty conservative person,(if ya know what I mean).So as far as that goes we should fit in.Any responses to my LONG Question would be looked forward to.Thanks.

Don't worry about the bugs. The only time it becomes an issue in my experience is if you have an inside light on with the window open at night in the summer. You have to have the screens closed. With my screens closed and the bedroom lights on, my screen begins to rapidly resemble the Star Wars Bar scene with all kinds of bugs that look like alien nightmares. But, they're attracted, like all bugs, to the light. So, to get them off, I simply flip on the outdoor lights and in 10 minutes they've all moved on to the new source of light. I don't notice a bad mosquito or fly problem. Only spiders have annoyed me a bit, and they're not poisonous, just want to share my home with me. As for animals, yes, ticks are the issue I am most wary of, and they are very common in any grassy or forested area, so you just have to be aware of them. And, if you have a dog running around, he or she is going to pick up ticks occasionally. Just put a flea/tick collar on the dog and bathe in flea/tick shampoo occasionally, as well as put on Advantage for dogs, etc. now and then. It's not a big deal.

[christina0001]

HOLY COW!!!! None of ya'll told me there were tarantulas in Missouri!!!!!!!!!

[johninvegas]

Howdy all!

I lived in the Springfield/Ozark area for 16 years in the 70s and 80s. I never saw a tarantula in all the time I was there and that includes some time on a farm. I did see a rattler once in the Mark Twain Nat'l Forest but it was sleeping in the sun and I left it alone. As for bugs and dogs---well, I had a dalmatian that loved to be in the woods and I was constantly pulling ticks off her. And even with a flea/tick wash, she would still get fleas. Since I left the area, I've found Avon's Skin So Soft shampoo (one oz to 16oz of water in a spray bottle) to be an effective mosquito repellant, I would be surprised if it worked on fleas also.

Mosquitos are a pest that one needs to be aware of these days what with West Nile Virus. Horses can be vaccinated against it, but there is no vaccine for people. Make sure you have no standing water around. If you have a pool, keep it well chlorinated. Same thing with fountains. And always use bug repellant (SSS) when you venture out at dawn and dusk. In fact, mosquito coils work real well on patios during the summer.

Henkelphoto

[Steve-o]

Woah, LOTS of misinformation on this thread. Ill try and set things straight...

Yes, there are tarantulas in Missouri. Theyre docile and not aggressive and cannot and will not kill you like everyone seems to believe. Theyre just big, lumbering, hairy spiders. They belong to the genus Aphonopelma and the species name is hentzi. They usually average around 4-5" leg spans when full grown. They like to inhabit rocky areas (known as 'glades') in Missouri and only the males venture out when they mature in search of a female to mate with. Their bite can be painful, but is usually less hurtful than a wasp sting. How bout them apples! Please just leave them be and admire them for their size and peculiar beauty. If you see one, just let it go. If one is in or near your house for some strange reason, theyre even gentle enough to coax them onto your hand to move them. I wouldnt try this unless youre accustomed to handling tarantulas as I am, but theyre actually very nice, more so than most dogs are.

There are several nasty spiders in Missouri as well, and ALL SPIDERS ARE VENOMOUS (not "poisonous"), thats how they subdue their prey. The 2 spiders to look out for are brown recluses (Loxosceles reclusa) and black widows (Latrodectus mactans and variolus). There are two black widow species in Missouri (L. mactans--southern widows and L. variolus--northern widows). Only female widows are POTENTIALLY lethal, but most bites just end up with flu-like symptoms, but get yourself to a hospital just in case.

Brown recluse are easily identified by the "fiddle" markings on their carapace. Their venom is necrotic, meaning it attacks skin cells and tissue, leading to rot and in some rare cases, amputation. I will post some pics below to help you guys ID these critters.

There is also a species of scorpion (Centruroides vittatus) in Missouri that are not considered lethal, but pack one heck of a sting. These are also found in and around glades, but commonly enter homes. Put them in a jar and take them into the woods, let them live, theyre beneficial to the environment by killing other insects that may do you more harm.

[Steve-o]

All of these pictures were taken in Missouri, near Joplin, Branson, etc...

Centruroides vittatus (scorpion): Found under rocks and in homes near glades or rocky hills:


Loxoceles reclusa (brown recluse): NOTE THE FIDDLE SHAPED MARKING ON THE CARAPACE (head):


Aphonopelma hentzi (tarantula): This one was about 5". Theyre actually really pretty and quite docile. Just leave them be, please. Their populations are dwindling. Dont be afraid of them, theyre harmless as a bee. This one was found in Branson.


Latrodectus variolus (northern widow). Found in Branson: