Title: Midges in Scotland
Author: Hendry, George
Published by: Mercat Press, Edinburgh
Year: 2003
First published: Aberdeen University Press, 1989
Date reviewed: 7.10
ISBN: 184183 0623

Mountaineers, climbers, Munro-baggers and walkers are not alone among visitors to the Scottish Highlands to be interested in the pesky midge. This little book, deservedly a best-seller, is now in its fourth edition. The author is an academic who has made extensive studies on the subject, but the book is written for a general readership rather than as a scientific text.

Here you can learn that there are 35 species of midge found in Scotland (so far), but only a few species bite humans and just one in particular, Culicoides inpunctatus, aka the Highland Midge, is responsible for more than 90% of all bites. The trouble is, there’s an awful lot of them about: one study in Argyll found an estimated half a million emerging from an area of just 4m². You can also learn about their lifecycle, their preferred breeding grounds, how the light level determines their activity, and why a spell of dry weather will reduce their numbers. The author discusses the generally unsuccessful attempts to control midges and on an individual level how to be bitten less.

Hendry also discusses the social and economic impact of the ‘small fly’ on tourism and outdoor activities such as construction and forestry. He argues convincingly that the tourism industry shouldn’t try to pretend the midge problem doesn’t exist but rather that visitors should be advised on the best way of minimising the discomfort they suffer. He further makes the case that the midge, undeniably successful in filling its environmental niche, is a controlling factor in limiting human exploitation of the Highlands and so maintaining its special wilderness qualities.