It's a Midge Midge World

Like the rest of the world ( except perhaps the north and south poles and the centre of the worlds great deserts ), Scotland has its native biting midges, ( small flies about 1/8 of an inch / 3 mm long ), sometimes called Punks or 'no-see-ums'. Norse, Saxon and Scots all had similar words for biting flies. The Scots word 'mudge' was translated into English as 'Midge', the main word used in the English speaking world to identify biting flies. There are over 5,300 named biting species, but scientists are unsure of the total number of biting and non-biting midge species worldwide.

As a species midges are a worldwide success from the tropics to the high arctic. Climbing Mount Everest you can expect midges up to about 14,000 feet / 4,267 meters, ( humans suffer from altitude sickness from about 8,000 feet / 2,438 meters - it seems midges don't ). Even in Antarctica the coldest - ( mean summer temperature -30°C and mean winter temperature -60°C ), the windiest ( winds up to 200 mph / 322 kmh ), the driest ( annual precipitation is less than the Sahara ) - place in the world. The largest native land animal is a wingless midge, Belgica Antarctica, less than 1.3cm / 0.5in long that tends to live among penguin colonies. The record for an insect living at depth ( 1360 m / 4,462 ft ) is held by midge larvae living in the fine oxygen starved silts at the bottom of the deepest lake in the world, Lake Baikal ( 1620 m / 5,315 ft at its deepest point ) in Russia's Southern Siberia.

Hey NASA, don't bother going to Mars because if there is life there it won't be little green men, it'll probably be - little green midges! 

About 37 midge species are native to the UK, spread from the North of Scotland to the South of England, with only 5 species of biting midges in Scotland who target humans. In the Scottish Highlands 90% of attacks on humans are carried out by one dominant species known by the grand name of 'Culicoides Impunctatus', but normally referred to as the 'Highland Midge'. 

The female midges lay eggs and when hatched the young midges over-winter as larva and then pupa, these stages lasting a total of about 10 months before they turn into adult flies - the midge is a true fly having only one pair of wings. Midges thrive wherever there is moist vegetation, in bogs, wet moor-land and even on rotting seaweed, it being necessary for the pupa and larva to remain moist or they will die. The first midges of the season hatch in May or early June with a second hatch occurring in the middle of July or early August. The Scottish | Weather | is normally damp and so the midges are able to develop, however now and again a dry spring will kill vast numbers of these infant midges. The adults only live about one month but the midge season stretches from the beginning of May till about the end of September, with the low temperatures of late autumn / early winter killing off all the adults.

Like males and females throughout the world Mr and Mrs Culicoides have slightly different priorities. Mr Culicoides hangs out with the guys, gets high on sap from vegetation, shows-off by performing aerial stunts and acrobatics and enjoys seducing the lovely female culicoides. Hey - What a cool life ! 

Before being fertilised the females like the males are vegetarians. However, when Mrs Culicoides Impunctatus gets pregnant she, like some other pregnant females, gets some strange cravings. With some people its ice cream and baked beans, with Mrs Midge its blood - no big deal, right ? COM' on people, we don't know how her hormones are acting up, give the lady a break ! Sap isn't that nutritious when you've got eggs to lay. We're talking survival of the species here - OK ?

Weird things happen, her craving isn't so bad - I found out recently a great grand-mother of mine sucked a piece of washed coal when she was pregnant and believe me that explains a lot about my family.  Anyway, what's the harm in a little vampire action now and again ? Especially if it helps the kids grow up into strong healthy Punks. The poor lady must get a blood meal two to five days after being fertilised to give the kids a good chance of survival.

If it's her first pregnancy Mrs Midge has a clever strategy, she takes the blood from her own flight muscles to get the nutrition for her young - so she has no need to bite in her first pregnancy. Oh Yes! - For all pregnancies after the first one Mrs Midge must find an external source of blood, and that's where you come into the story. The good news is that you have a major role in this drama, you play the part of the 'Culicoided Impunctated' - the blood donor.

Chemical Warfare

Even although she is only the size of the eye of a needle - if you walk the WHW you will get to know the Highland Midge real well. We have sat down to enjoy a great view only to be forced away within seconds of the midges swarming around us. Her bite isn't painful it's annoying and itchy and exasperating and if she wasn't so tiny and I could get my hands on the little so-n-so, I'd - Oh! ... sorry. In mid summer in the Western Highlands there are probably around 10 to 15 million biting female midges for every one of Scotland's 5 million human inhabitants. Hold it . . . !

Judging by the number of bites I've received - someone in Scotland isn't taking their fair share. 

For a creature that lives in its adult stage for only 20 to 30 days, the midges are a highly successful insect. The only consolation we have is that there is probably some creature that bites the midge, because :

'Big fleas have little fleas upon their back to bite 'em, and little fleas have smaller ones and so ad-infinitem'

and you're at the top of the food chain.

Midges are often carried on the wind and have been found over 100 miles from the Scottish mainland, on remote Islands in the Atlantic Ocean. Free rides on air currents allow the midges to spread beyond their limited flight range. Their fossils ( encased in Amber ) date back to over 125 million years, meaning they may have gotten their original blood meals from dinosaurs. The dinosaurs died out - the midges are still flourishing and at times, when I'm under attack from the midges, I have thought that there can only be one explanation - it was the midges that killed off the dinosaurs.  Poor dinosaurs they didn't have a chance. Some days I wish the dinosaurs had won and think that it would be easier to face TRex on the WHW than to face the Highland Midge.

Scientists have discovered that when the female midge is pregnant the main trigger causing her to bite is the level of light. If the light level falls below 260 Watts/m² then the midge is stimulated to seek a victim. Scotland is often clouded over and the light threshold is easily crossed, even at midday, stimulating biting activity. The bad news is that there is sufficient light in the clear skies around mid-summer to continually trigger the midge to bite ALL NIGHT, though these conditions only last for a few weeks.

As this isn't a scientific treatise I can only give my opinion as to how the midge homes in on its victim. Culicoides Punks seem to have a fine tuned array of detection capabilities, including:

Breath - midges detect carbon dioxide from exhalation.

Infrared detection - mammals are warm-blooded and give off heat. I have put my pack down and seen the midges attack it, presumably because of the heat transfer from my body to the pack.

Chemical warfare - the sweat and odour from a hard-pressed walker contains chemicals the midge can track down.

Fee-Foe-Fi-Fum. I smell the blood of a - well anyone. The greatest mystery in nature, the uncanny ability of the Highland Midge . . . to get to a potential victim. 

I am sure of one thing, when God designed midges it was a first class design - Amen to that !

The Highland Midge

Almost all walkers will tell you that the worst midge in the UK is the Highland midge and that the further north you go, the fiercer the Highland Midges seem to become. Get more | Information | on the WHW and see a | map | of the route, as well as brief info on the | WHW Towns |

In Scotland the midges are most prolific in the months of June, July and August - with July and August being the most voracious months. All midges are most active at dawn and dusk, but midges seem to favour biting at dawn - however to be fair, you can be bitten at almost anytime of the day. Studies on the worst times of day ( taking as an example a cloudless day during the last two weeks of July and the first week of August ), show that the biting begins in earnest at about 5am, peaks around 7am, and falls to lower levels just after 8am. Peak activity in the evening can be anywhere from 9pm to 11pm.

Midges tend to group near water, or at least they are at their most numerous near shorelines and riverbanks, but again there are so many of them that you will meet them almost everywhere. The best days for walkers are sunny days with a light breeze, as midges don't seem to like direct sunshine. In breezy weather the Midge finds it almost impossible to steer a course to the walker, so they don't fly so much. Midges just love calm, damp, overcast days, even light rain, or areas of shade like the edges of forests and woods, which protect them from sunlight and wind.

Many people in Scotland would like to see a vast reduction in the number of midges. However, midges are believed to be food for bats and for visiting migrant birds from Africa, such as swifts and swallows, who come for the rich feeding. I have personally watched Magpies gorging themselves on midge swarms and so would expect many other native birds to feast on midges throughout the summer. There must be many other creatures, such as spiders and dragonflies that prey on the Highland Midge, as well as others that feed on the midge larvae. The midges are also thought to be partly responsible for the migration of deer herds, as they move to higher ground in summer to escape the plague, and then return to lower ground as the midges die out. At end of the autumn throughout the whole of Scotland, the weight - two million midges weigh about one kilo - of all those dead tiny little midges, ( in one study 5 million midges were collected from an area of only two square metres ) - must run into tons and that nutrition must do something for the soil and therefore the vegetation, including the heather. Perhaps it's best to leave the midges alone - apart from slapping them hard when they land on you.

It would be wrong to believe that biting Midges serve no useful purpose, the biting midges of South America have been found to be important pollinators of such plants as cacao ( if you like chocolate, it's the midges you should thank ), and of rubber trees, palms, mango and possibly several small flower producing shrubs and trees. It is to be expected that the Scottish midges are also important in the scheme of nature and may serve ( a yet undiscovered ) useful purpose. I suppose we must have insects, but at least Scotland has one big advantage - we have very few mosquitoes and those that we have are tiny and disease free. During my entire lifetime I have only consciously came into contact with our tiny mosquitoes on half-a-dozen occasions and if any of them ever bit me then it would be a surprise to me to hear about it.

The Cover-up

Some people advise covering arms and legs and exposing as little flesh as possible to the midge. In my humble opinion, covering up as much as is practical when the midges are active does give a good measure of protection, because the midge is a 'pool' feeder. That is, the midge - unlike mosquitoes who inject their prey - only nick the skin with their scissor like mouth parts and then feed from the tiny pool of blood that forms on the skin surface. This style of feeding may mean that the midge needs to have access to bare flesh in order to bite. Clothing does therefore seem to offer protection, but of course there will always be some areas such as the face, back of the neck and hands that it is not practical to cover in warm weather. Even although I advocate covering up when the midges are active I have a strong suspicion that somewhere in the highlands, the midges have a secret school where they teach newbies how to get inside the edges of collars and cuffs. Science needs more investigation on how to combat the problem of midges, which cost millions to the Scottish Tourist industry every year.

One fact that science has proven is that midges, like killer bees ( none in Scotland ), and almost all insects, are much more attracted to attacking dark colours particularly black, ( makes you wonder if the original victims and threats to insects - dinosaurs, had very dark or black coloured skin ), anyway, it would be best if your walking colours were lighter shades.

It seems that the midge problem was not as bad in the past as it is today. There is remarkably little mention of the midge by writers throughout Scottish history. Problems seem to have started with the de-forestation of Scotland, so it has been suggested that the best remedy would be to replant Caledonian pine forests through out the Western and Northern Highlands. The trees would take water from the soil, dry out the ground and reduce favourable breeding grounds and conditions for the midge. Other suggestions include the introduction of midge eating bats, as each bat can eat around 3 million midges every night. Though I don't know how they would survive in the winter. The Forestry Commission has also experimented successfully with spraying midge habitats with nematodes. These tiny transparent worms have already been used to counter the pine weevil threat in Argyll. The nematodes proliferate and feed on the midge larvae, greatly reducing their numbers in the sprayed areas.

Midge Advice

If you listened to all the advice folk give, you would either not walk the WHW at all - or :

You would set out smelling like a chemist's parlour,
have red skin from rubbing orange peel all over,
wear chain-mail underwear, two pairs of socks,
woollen jumpers, thick gloves, a scarf,
a bullet-proof vest, waist-high fishermen's waders,
a Macintosh raincoat, a balaclava, a hat, a bee-keepers net,
Wellington boots, an umbrella, earmuffs, goggles,
a gas mask and a NASA spacesuit,
all covered by a double ply midge net.
Carrying a clove of garlic in one hand
and a spray-can of DDT in the other,
while mumbling ancient N. American Indian chants
and being accompanied by a spell casting Voodoo high priest
. . . .with a fly swat ! 

What can walkers do to minimise Midge bites ?

You could follow all these guidelines and still get more than your fair share of bites - you could break every rule in the midge book and hardly be troubled by the midges. But, a sensible approach would be to observe the following :

1. Wear a | repellent | that works for you, judged on price in relation to concentration.

2. Wear lighter colours when walking.

3. Cover your arms and legs where and when midges are active.

4. Don't walk at dawn or dusk.

5. Don't camp beside still or slow moving water.

6. Don't stop to rest in areas where midges gather.

7. Take your breaks where and when there is a slight breeze and/or direct sunlight.

8. To avoid the worst of the season, walk the WHW during or before May, or during and after September.

Remember to keep a sense of proportion and to preserve your sense of humour. The distraction caused by midges even on a bad day, is nothing in comparison to the enjoyment of the walk and the therapy of the beautiful countryside.

Don't be greedy.
The midge takes a very small amount of blood only one ten-millionth of a litre
and you've got over 5 1/2 litres all to yourself.
Do you really need all those 10 1/2 pints of blood sloshing around inside you ? 

Look on the bite side - I mean - the 'bright side'
The WHW provides an itch - I mean - 'rich' - reward to those who persevere.
If you prepare well you are more than a scratch - sorry - 'match' - for the midges.
Anyway you'll be doing your bite - I mean - 'bit' - for ecology
because if you walk the WHW
you will help the next generation of midges get a good start in life.
Awesome !

Hear a short clip of an exasperated tourist who
looses it, gets enraged at the midges and tries to whack'em !

| Don't  let  them  get  to  you ! |

Just for fun - | Midge humour 1 |

If you can follow the Scots tongue read | Mudgies | a poem about the dreaded Midges.

Play Armidgegeddon an online game where you try to ZAP the midges - dream on.  | Midge Game |

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