Scotland is hit by midge explosion

Published on Thursday 9 September 2010 14:07

STRATHSPEY was Scotland's midge magnet this summer with numbers of the biting pest up 256 per cent on last year.

The area, renowned for its mountains and lochs, recorded the highest number of the insects in the country according to an analysis by the official midge forecast.

While overall Scotland saw midge numbers increase by a quarter this year, some areas suffered more than others.

The Great Glen also saw numbers up by 29.5 per cent, but Skye saw a fall of 52 per cent, the Galloway Hills a 47 per cent drop and there was a 7 per cent reduction in the Borders.

Catches from one trap run once a week show 518,910 midges in Strathspey this year compared with 145,594 in 2009.

Others were:

• Great Glen, 2009: 110,357, 2010: 142,912

• Borders, 2009: 120,641, 2010: 112,464

• Inner Hebrides and Sky, 2009: 159,549, 2010: 77,298

• Galloway Hills, 2009: 352,045 2010: 186,306.

Midge expert Dr Alison Blackwell, who runs the website www.midgeforecast.co.uk, said the overall increase was due to warm, damp weather during the summer.

"This season some areas have seen greater midge numbers than in 2009 and some less. But overall we are up by 25 per cent. I think the reasons why the results are so patchy is down to local conditions.

"The micro-climate in Strathspey was a midge's paradise this year - while in Skye it was the opposite.

"There are still a few midges about, but their peak has gone. They seemed to arrive later this year, but when they did they did so with a vengeance in many areas."

Midges are most active at temperatures between 15-30C, and August sees them at their most ferocious. A swarm of midges can deliver approximately 3,000 bites an hour. Only the females bite. It gives them protein and energy to produce their eggs.

The peak midge season, roughly June to September, matches the main tourist season. It has been estimated the insects cost the industry 286 million a year, with many visitors citing the insect as a reason why they will not return to Scotland.

Two million midges weigh just a kilogram - and one square metre of land will contain about 500,000 of the insects.

It was hoped the harsh winter would have killed off many this year but experts say midge populations are no different from previous years.

A study conducted among 300 competitors taking part in the 2008 First Monster Challenge, a 120km team relay duathlon around the shores of Loch Ness, supported experts' views that one in ten people has an in-built resistance to the midge.

The research showed that taller and larger people are more susceptible to attack and that women are more likely to react badly to bites. Vulnerability to the insects is also hereditary - children are likely to inherit a tendency to be bitten.

This Saturday sees a trial of a new midge repellent at this year's First Monster Challenge.

Edinburgh-based Advanced Pest Solutions Ltd. (APS) will be testing its repellent, Smidge.

Dr Blackwell said: "Midges start their hunt for us using smell, detecting CO2 and a whole cocktail of other body odours. It's the release of CO2 in our exhaled breath that guides a midge to its prey.

"Smidge interferes with this and confuses the insect - when a midge can't smell us, it can't find us and therefore won't bite us."

She added that people engaged in extreme exercise were particularly attractive to midges.