Help! Now Iceland is invaded by the pesky Highland midge
SCOTLAND is known the world over for the magnificence of its scenery – and the ferocity of its midges.
So it is no surprise that when the people of Iceland found themselves under attack from a plague of flying pests, they turned to the Scots for help.
Iceland has witnessed for the first time an invasion of biting midges and has sought advice from a company in Scotland that sells repellent.
The company that runs the official Scottish Midge Forecast has sent an urgent consignment of 5,000 cans of midge repellent to Iceland.
So desperate were Icelanders for the protective spray that regulators bypassed the normal requirements for the eco-friendly spray to go on sale. Instead of insisting the can’s information had to be in Icelandic, which would have held up the supply, English was readily accepted.
‘They couldn’t get their hands on them quick enough. There were no midges in most parts of Iceland a couple of years ago, then they suddenly appeared and nobody knows why,’ said leading expert Dr Alison Blackwell of APS Biocontrol Ltd of Dundee. ‘But they have really exploded this year in new parts of Iceland and they contacted us because of the successful effect our product Smidge has had on midges.’
Summer house owners in West Iceland have reportedly had to flee after being attacked by culicoides, a genus of biting midges which had never been seen in Iceland before.
The tiny midges, which measure only about 1.5 mm in length, bite both humans and animals causing a rash and extensive itching.
Closer to home, Scotland is recording record levels of midges.
‘It has been both wet and warm – just ideal conditions for midges,’ said Dr Blackwell.