Midges and Muggles

Midges and ‘muggies’ – pesky little bloodsuckers

By Dr Anina Lee

I have a confession. I call myself a conservationist but there is one animal I hate. I know that every living thing is part of nature's complex interconnectedness and the delicate balance of species, so I stop short of waging outright war on them. I'm talking about certain members of the midge family – the biting midges.

Biting midges are the bane of my life in summer, especially at dusk. They are like stealth bombers – you never see them approach or feel them striking until it's too late. They can get access to your skin under your clothes and in places where you never thought to smear insect repellent. It's only a day later, when you suddenly have an unexplained itch, that you realise the full horror. You absentmindedly scratch the itch – and your fate is sealed.

That itch will turn into a huge red mound (a 'welt' is too polite to describe it) that will itch uncontrollably

for the next week. No amount of juice from Bulbinella, Carpobrotus (sour fig) or Cotyledon ('plakkie') will stop the agony. Even commercial antihistamine cream gives scant relief. So you see why I'm not a fan.

A wide range of small flies is included in the general names midges, gnats or 'muggies'. They are all members of the order Diptera to which all flies belong. The name means two-winged.

Click on the newspaper to read more (see page 18).