IRELAND’S SUMMER SCURGE

 Daisies

Humans classify midge species by their most important and obvious trait: whether they bite or not. Both biting (Ceratopogonidae, particularly Cuculiodes impunctatus) and nonbiting (Chironomidae) midges belong to Order Diptera (the ies), and as such, their lifecycle is composed of four stages: egg, larva, pupa, and adult.

All stages are aquatic except for the adult phase. Midge eggs are found in or near waterbodies and, a er dropping to the bottom, can take up to ten days to hatch. A er hatching, larvae proceed through four instar phases (with accompanying exoskeleton moults) before a short pupation.

Midges are found in and around almost all freshwater habitats in Ireland. eir speci c habitat de nes the habits of the individual larva; for example, aquatic midges build burrows and tubes in sediment and sand, as well as developing distinctive colouring as camou age. e larvae, o en called bloodworms, take on a red tinge, as a result of the presence of haemoglobin. is chemical allows the larva to survive in low oxygen conditions.

Midges themselves have a varied diet that may include shredded vegetation and algae, ltered nutrients from decayed organic matter, as well as small macroinvertebrates, worms, and the like. Nonbiting midges usually stick with BY ANNE SUNDERMANN this diet in their adult phase. Biting midges need blood, as do all breeding females, as a blood meal supplies necessary proteins for egg development. CHEMICAL ROMANCE From fertility to blood feasts, the chemical senses play a major role in the lifecycle of the midge. Renowned ecologist Tom Eisner noted that “all living organisms emit, detect, and respond to chemical cues.” Insect species pass through life using chemicals for a multitude of purposes, including nding food, eluding predators, and most importantly, mating. For example, a female midge relies on exhaled carbon dioxide levels as a guide to suitable prey and detects this airborne chemical compound with her antennae.

Pheromones act much like social media in uencers, supercharging midge behaviour. These chemical compounds, whether carried by wind or found in soil, vegetation, or water, are picked up in the antennae and travel over neuronal pathways to chemoreceptors located in the midge olfactory centre. ese chemical impulses are combined with taste, touch, sound, smell, and sight to guide and boost the desired behaviour.

Bombarded with external input, midges translate these chemo-sensory messages into a number of chemically

ENVIRONMENTAL SENTINELS High population density such as egg clusters and swarming adults create an opportunity for predation of midges, both in the water and in the air. e eggs and larvae are primarily eaten by sh and aquatic macroinvertebrates such as dragon y larva, whereas the adult midges provide sustenance for a variety of sh, birds, spiders, and other insects.

Birdwatch Ireland’s Ricky Whelan outlines the bene ts of midge swarms for migratory common swi s, an amberlisted species of conservation concern: “Studies of swi foraging behaviour have shown Lough Neagh and the huge hatches of ‘Lough Neagh y’ as an important source of food for nesting swi s in Belfast and within a radius of the lake.”

Midge larvae, with their diet of decomposing organic matter, help recycle nutrients and support the health of waterbodies. Midges also o er clues to the past. For example, researchers used the presence of Chironomidae in the fossil record of a Holocene-epoch lake system in western Ireland to assess the in uence of climate and temperature changes. In present day, forensic experts use Chironomid larvae to gauge how long a corpse or animal carcass has been submerged.

Macroinvertebrates such as the egg, larval, and pupal midge are valuable tools to gauge water quality and aquatic biodiversity. e chemistry of the aquatic midge habitats di ers between species and can range from being intolerant of heavily polluted conditions (and act as an indicator of high-quality waters when present) to conditions that call for a tolerance of low oxygen and other adverse water conditions such as eutrophication, that is, overly enriched waters from harmful runo .

With thousands of species globally, midges are successful and adaptable invertebrates. ere are 500 species of nonbiting midges and approximately 23 species of biting midges in Ireland; together they are a critical part of a healthy ecosystem.

driven behaviours, particularly sexual reproduction and mating rituals. e presence of sex pheromones enhances species and gender identification and assessing the viability of the potential mate. Although the female midge tends to be the receptor of the courtship pheromones, both genders can signal and receive these cues.

Scottish researchers have identi ed a sex pheromone (n-heptade-cane) used by the biting midge. In a 2003 New Scientist article, researcher Jenny Mordue describes how “When the virgin female bites, chemicals from the host’s blood stimulate increased pre-mating grooming behaviour and mating attempts.”

ADULT EGG

TAKING FLIGHT If pheromones act like Instagram in uencers, the aerial swarm is the midge version of Tinder. A er emerging from the water, adult midges le a brief ight plan— from three to ve days—and amass in gatherings that are o en so large that they seem like clouds or plumes of dark smoke. ese clouds of nonbiting midges are mostly adult males showing o in the hope of attracting and mating with females.

PUPA LARVAE

LIFE CYCLE OF A MIDGE

Saol príobháideach an choinín

Tá an giorria Gaelach (Lepus timidus hibernicus) ar cheann de thrí lagomorf a aightear ar Oileán na hÉireann agus an t-aon lagomorf dúchasach. Den dá speiceas lagomorfach eile, tá giorriacha donn le fáil i dTuaisceart Éireann (ach tá siad gann) -- agus coiníní, go forleathan.

Ní i gcónaí a bhí coiníní inár measc! ug na Normannaigh coiníní isteach go hÉirinn sa 12ú haois mar bhia, agus níor bhfad go scaip siad ó na coinicéar; agus tá siad coitianta anois ar fud ár n-oileán. Is breá le coiníní (poill a thochailt) agus is é sin an fáth a gciallaíonn a n-ainm Laidine, cuniculus, (Áit faoi thalamh)

Déanann na baineannaigh an chuid is mó den tochailt: go háirithe le haghaidh pórú.

Tochailteann an mháthair choinín poll beag agus leagann sí stuáil ann.

Bíonn suas le deichniúr leanaí ag coiníní i ngach ál.

Saolaítear na leanaí gan onnaidh agus bíonn siad dall. Ar an drochuair, ní mhaireann an chuid is mó de choiníní áine ú go dtí dhá bhliain d’aois, cé gur féidir le coiníní peataí maireachtáil go dtí deich mbliana d’aois nó níos mó.

Cé go n-aithníonn gach duine coiníni, agus cé go bhfuli siad chomh coiteanta, is gnách nach mbíonn mórán eolais ag daoine fúthu.

Féadann gach páiste insint duit faoi choinín na Cásca, no b’ éidir Brer Rabbit; nó an Coinín Bán i scéal Alice; agus ar ndoigh, scéal agus scannán Watership Down. (Is fearr an leabhar ná an scannán, i mo thuairim féin!)

Deir údar an leabhair, Risteard Adams, sa réamhrá go dtagann an t-eolas speisialta atá aige ó leabhar tábhachtach eile “ e private life of the rabbit” le R M Lockley

Chuaigh mé ar lorg an téacs-leabhair seo; bhí sé liostaithe i gcatalóg na leabharlainne áitiúil ach níor eirigh liom teacht air…tar éis cuardach fada do fuarthas é ar sheilf i rannóg na bpáistí!

Ach cé go bhfuil íomhá síscéalta ag coiníní, ní leabhar leanaí é seo ar chor ar bith; téacsleabhar zó-eolaíocht atá ann.

Ba mhian le Lockley dianstaidéar a dhéanamh ar choiníní - tar éis dó iarracht a dhéanamh iad a dhíbirt. (Iarracht gan toradh, mar is eol do gach feirmeoir.)

Do thóg sé seomraí faoi thalamh le ballaí gloine agus bhí sé in ann súil a choinneáil ar ghníomhartha oíche agus laethúil na gcoinín; Ba é an chéad duine a thug faoi deara go leor nósanna nach bhfacthas riamh cheana; streachailtí cumhachta idir cheannairí; na baineannaigh ag déanamh neadacha dá leanaí; agus, ar ndóigh, iad ag tógáil foscadh ón aimsir fuar nó ó na creachadóirí a sheilg coiníní le haghaidh bia - sionnaigh, easóga, madraí - agus daoine!

Molaim an leabhar seo d’aon duine atá ag iarraidh fíor-eolas a bhaint amach ar bhitheolaíocht choinín agus ar a saol sóisialta.

Cé nach leagann coiníni uibheacha Cásca, tá miotas amháin fíor: póraíonn siad go han-tapa; is féidir le coinín baineann cúpláil laistigh de sheachtain tar éis breith a thabhairt dá báibíní

Is féidir seisear leanaí a bheith acu, gach mí sa samhradh - sin go leor coiníní !

Tugadh an coinín go hÉirinn ar dtús mar bhia - ní ainmhí dúchais é.

Má éiríonn leat coinín áin a ghabháil, beidh beile maith agat as; i rith an chogaidh d’itheadar a lán coiníní nuair a bhí feoil búistéara gann. Mar thoradh, nil meas ag seandaoine ar choinini mar dhinnéar. Ach dar liomsa, Is mias blasta é!

Tá coiníní feicthe agam i ngach cineál áiteanna; ag rith thart eastát tionsclaíochta i mBaile Átha Cliath, ag léimneach thart timpeall chlós iarnróid, ag teacht amach as clós meanscoil.

Faightear iad beagnach i ngach áit…tá an-teacht aniar iontu i gcoinne i gcoinne achrann mór.

Mar sin an chéad uair eile a eiceann tú coinín, cuimhnigh gur ainmhí casta é a bhfuil a shaol príobháideach féin aige. Beannaigh leis!