The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
The perfect swarm could hit Scotland
Expert warning it may be ‘a record year’ for midges
The number of midges is officially up 100 percent on last year – with a second bumper hatch due in weeks.
Leading midge expert Dr Alison Blackwell said one trap in Glencoe caught 1.3 million of the biting beasties last week – double the number in the same period last year when weekly catches were just 680,000.
“I think the warm spring and the recent rain has definitely brought them out. We’ve had reports from around Scotland today of menacing numbers out in force, including Kinlochleven, Glencoe, Oban and Loch Lomond,” said Dr Blackwell, who runs the official Scottish Midge Forecast.
“In fact, one man reported not so much a cloud of midges at Kinlochleven as a fog. Catches are up 100 percent and a second hatch is due in mid-July, in what appears to be perfect conditions for them. It could be a record year.
“All over the Highlands is looking good midge territory this summer. The only thing that might help is if it is hot and dry – midges don’t like that kind of weather. They prefer it warm and wet.”
The larvae of Culicoides impunctatus – the scientific name for the Highland biting midge – overwinter in the soil and usually begin to emerge as adults in May and June the following year. These adults then lay eggs that develop relatively quickly to give a second emergence of adult midges in July.
A rare third hatch can occur in September if the second half of the summer is particularly warm. But Dr Blackwell said it was “too early” to forecast if that would happen this year.
The Scottish tourism industry is estimated to lose about £286 million a year because of the voracious and swarming insects.
A previous study also found that many tourists said they would not return to Scotland at the same time of year because of the biting beastie.
“In fact, one man reported not so much a cloud of midges at Kinloch– leven as a fog. DR ALISON BLACKWELL