Number of midges up by almost a third.

Likely to be a record-breaking year with couple of weeks of logging left

The conditions for midges have been so ideal this year that there has now been a third hatch of the biting beastie.

The number of midges is almost a third up on last year and likely to be a record, with a couple more weeks of official logging left.

Just as you thought it was safe to go out, a leading midge expert, Dundeebased Dr Alison Blackwell, said it was clear that the third hatch was “the most significant for five years.”

One trap in Glencoe has been catching a staggering 30,000 extra midges a night – compared to the last two weeks in August – a clear sign of a third hatch, she said.

Midges normally only hatch twice in the summer season – at the end of May and the beginning of July.

“We don’t usually get large third hatches. But this is the most significant for about five years,” said Dr Blackwell.

“The reason is quite simple – the weather. It may not have been a good summer for us but it has been perfect for midges – wet and warm.

“They don’t like long, hot, dry summers. They get dehydrated and die quickly. So this damp weather has been a godsend for them.

“Overall the traps are showing about 30% up on last year and we expect it to be a record year.

But Dr Blackwell, who runs the official Scottish Midge Forecast at least had some good news ahead.

“The third generation is likely to drop off quite quickly given the cooler nights at the moment – I’d think they will only be a notable biting nuisance for, at most, another two weeks,” she said.

“But this year’s hatches do seem to be more widespread and noticeable across the country given that people are still reporting midge issues.”

Earlier this year Dr Blackwell and her team calculated the total number of midges in the Highlands and Islands for the first time – after fearing their sums did not come up to scratch.

And the bad news is that there are an estimated 44.8 million biting beasties for every resident in the region.

Dr Blackwell, director of Dundeebased APS Biocontrol Ltd, the makers of anti-midge repellent Smidge, said she had calculated there were 139 billion midges in the Highlands and Islands.

Half of them were females – only the female midge bites – but not every one of them makes it to ‘biting point.’

So the number of midges seeking a “blood meal” over the summer was around 21 billion.

“I don’t think the third generation will increase the total that much – given the overall usual ‘resident’ numbers. It will have done a bit though,” she said.

The third hatch of midges is “the most significant for five years”.