It is thought the cold weather this winter will have killed off a significant number of Scotland’s infamous midge population, although most will have survived.

This tiny insect plagues Scotland’s visitors from June to August every year, particularly in the north and west of Scotland. If you’ve experienced a swarm of midges, you will understand why they put people off returning to Scotland, costing the tourist industry around £286m a year.

Fondly known as the scourge of Scotland, the Highland midge loves damp, uncultivated land and this is something Scotland has plenty of. It is the female midge that bites; it can only lay its eggs after it has tasted blood, hence their attraction to the feckless visitor.

You can protect yourself up to a point. Midges like dawn, dusk and damp conditions. They like still air and they prefer dark clothing to light. It helps to have an insect repellent nearby and it is not uncommon to see people wearing netted midge hoods in order to protect their face and neck.

Alasdair Roberts has compiled an anthology of interesting anecdotes and information about the midge in his book “Midges”. Helpfully this is available in paperback so can be used for swatting the ‘wee beastie’ with!

This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010 at 9:53 am and is filed under Angry, Conservation, Insects. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.