![]() Highland midges love to swarm over stagnant water And if that area has lots of livestock or other big animals, there’s an even higher chance you’ll find midges… cos they love munching on farm animals and deer. ![]() So if an area is boggy, wet, or damp, you’ll likely find midges there. More than anything, Scottish midges love bodies of water with little wind. Though you’ll find them in most parts of the Highlands, they’re most common in the western Highlands. Usually, Scottish midges are only at their worst in particular types of places. So if you plan carefully, you can reduce the chances of midges ruining your vacation. But luckily, there are certain landscapes you will (and won’t!) find them. In many parts of the Highlands, there’s a good chance you’ll see some midges, get bitten by some midges, and want to cry about how annoying those midges are. Midges only really live in the Highland areas of Scotland-so if you’re exploring southern Scotland, you usually don’t need to worry about them. So don’t underestimate the creepy little horrors, and make sure you take some sensible precautions (but there’s much more on all that coming up later). It’s honestly impossible to articulate how annoying, rife, and disruptive midges can be. I feel that image adequately sums up the horrendous midge experience you can expect from Scotland, and the vast quantities you might encounter in even the most innocuous of places. When I turned the camera on, there were hundreds of midges swarming over and around the lens, and the view from inside the car looked like something from a horror movie. ![]() One time, I rented a car in Scotland, and it had one of those rear-view cameras for reverse parking. To help you understand this figure, that’s around 30 million midges per person in Scotland! Combine that wet weather with a massive number of lochs, and you get lots of damp breeding grounds, where midges like nothing more than to linger about, make babies, and irritate everyone.ĭuring the heaviest midge seasons (according to some perhaps-questionable research), there might be as many as 200 trillion midges in Scotland at any one time. Scotland is a very rainy place, and even in the warmest months, the nation receives a surprising amount of wet weather. ![]() Why Are There So Many Midges in Scotland? We’ll cover all this in much more detail later, but Scottish midges usually harass the nation’s residents and visitors for around 6 months every year (and especially in the height of summer). Though the individual creatures only live for between 20 and 30 days each, the midge season lasts way longer than that. How Long Do Midges Live?Īdult midges have an average lifespan of between 20 and 30 days, while larvae take between 1 and 2 days to go from their little baby form to their fully-fledged adult form. In the USA, similar bugs are apparently known as ‘no-see-ums’… so if you’re familiar with no-see-ums, you’re also familiar with midges. Scottish midges typically measure in at between 1 and 3mm, making them ridiculously tiny. And they get that blood from both humans and animals. When these ravenous females are pregnant, they slurp on blood to help their eggs develop and grow. They bite, but they don’t spread any diseases, so it’s not all bad news (although their sometimes-painful bites can get infected, but we’ll get to all that soon). In short, midges are tiny flying biting insects, and they hang around in huge swarms, in both Scotland and many other places.Īlthough Scottish midges are very annoying, they aren’t the same as mosquitoes. Part of the family of small-sized Ceratopogonidae insects, they’re one of the many types of small biting midges that are present across the planet. Scottish midges are one of the most seemingly-innocuous-but-actually-incredibly-annoying creatures on the planet. Midges in Scotland: Final Words and Further Reading.Which Other Biting Insects Live in Scotland?.What Activities Can I Do in Scotland if the Midges Are Unbearable?.More Tips for Avoiding Midges in Scotland.What Clothing or Accessories Are Best for Midge Season?.When is the Best Time to Go to Scotland to Avoid Midges?.Why Do Some People Get More Midge Bites Than Others?.Do Midges in Scotland Spread Diseases Like Mosquitos?.Midge Bites: Everything You Need to Know.What Time of Day Are Midges Most Active?.When is the Midge Season in Scotland? when Are Midges at Their Worst in Scotland?.Where Are the Worst Places in Scotland for Midges?.Why Are There So Many Midges in Scotland?.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |