EXPERTS are urging nature-lovers to visit Loch Leven in Fife to see an unusually large swarm of midges that have emerged from the ground.
They say the “amazing” natural spectacle is not to be missed and warned it would only last for a few days.
The non-biting midges, or chironomids, do not feed as adults and so are only mating while in the swarm. They will then lay their eggs and, if the climate conditions are right, more will hatch again in three weeks’ time.
Gus Routledge, Loch Leven’s reserve assistant said the mass emergence was even bigger than previous years. The path where the flies have hatched is about a 45-minute walk between the RSPB car park and Loch Leven’s Larder.
He added: “I think this is absolutely brilliant and people should come down to see it. It’s an amazing spectacle to witness such a huge number of insects, especially when you think they are fuelling the rest of the ecosystem here.
“It’s also brilliant seeing all the migrant birds that are swooping through them all to feed on them and loving it. It’s a really good food supply for them.
“It is also great news for the trout as they are feeding on them as they land on the water. The dragonflies and damselflies will also be feeding off them.”
Ashleigh Whiffin, National Museums of Scotland’s assistant curator of entomology, said: “I would love to see this phenomenon so I am going to go there this weekend. I’ve not seen this phenomenon before and I would urge others to see it too. They don’t harm you.”
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