THE sea shimmers, the beaches are golden and the lochs and mountains are breathtakingly beautiful. In the sunshine, Scotland is glorious.
However, there is one tiny irritant and the trouble is there are lots of them. Midges. And the good weather hasn’t blunted their bites.
Although they are averse to strong sunshine, huge numbers are being reported, particularly in the West of Scotland in the early morning and evenings.
“Everyone is saying the midges are crazy and that is true,” said Scotland’s midge expert Dr Alison Blackwell. “The west coast especially is reporting really bad numbers at the moment.”
She said she had been surprised so many were around as it could have been expected that the sunny weather would prove to be a deterrent but the cool spring had probably delayed their initial emergence.
“We normally see the first peak of midges in the last week of May and first week of June but as it was so cool, the first peak was delayed and then, when we got warm weather, they thought ‘ha’!” she said.
“There’s not a lot of wind around to drive them away but although they don’t like cold, they don’t like bright sunshine either and I have been surprised to see so many. I’ve been out the last few nights doing repellent testing and there are huge numbers so I guess it is just the fact we have had a delay to the season and the numbers have suddenly gone ‘bang’.”
Dr Blackwell said she expected the first batch to mate and start laying eggs, with those hatching in six weeks’ time, giving rise to a second generation towards the end of July.
“If it continues to be warm and dry, this peak might dampen off a bit and we might see a smaller second generation,” she said.
The problem is that weather forecasters are predicting showers, together with relatively high temperatures meaning it will be humid.
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“Humid conditions are good for them so if that is the case we are doomed!” said Dr Blackwell.
Those who still want to brave the big outdoors should go prepared if they want to avoid midge bites, she said.
“They are most active at dawn and dusk in low light conditions so in the daytime they won’t really bother you unless you are somewhere really sheltered when they might come out.”
At peak times avoid wearing shorts and t-shirts so that the skin is not exposed and avoid dark clothing as midges are attracted to dark moving objects. Repellents can also help.
The four approved insect repellent actives in the UK are DEET – the oldest active around, dating back to the 1940s – and Citriodiol, a synthetic lemon eucalyptus oil, along with two relative new actives, both of which have better environmental profiles than DEET and are generally much kinder to the skin.
These are Picaridin (also known as Icaridin or Saltidin), which has been molecularly designed to block insects’ antennal olfactory receptors, confusing them so they are less likely to find you and IR3535, a Merck product, similar to Picaridin.
“All the above are effective if used according to the label and will give good protection against midges, mosquitoes and ticks,” said Dr Blackwell. “Consumers should check products for the age range they can be used on, safety for pregnant women and any skin sensitivity issues.”
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