Dynamite Comes in Small Packages

“Biting Midges in Scotland” is the title of an Information and Advisory Note that is available here, and the obvious answer is of course, “no, you may not bite them, but they will bite you”. Right, jokes aside, this little scourge is a real real nuisance. And with June being at an end we only still have about two and a half months, three tops, of them to put up with. If it comes to any contest between the little suckers winning, and that is what they are -- namely blood-suckers, or me freezing my butt off, I am afraid my butt loses out hands down. They do not like direct sun, nor extreme cold, and wind even less. But they are surprisingly well able to cope with cool temperatures, considering their body size and all, in comparison to humans. So with outside temperatures on an average of 10C does not bother them too much, they will even fly around and ‘hunt’ during temperatures as low as 3C, as long as it is fairly humid, preferably darkish, and definitely no wind or even a breeze. I guess being as small as they are makes manoeuvring the air currents a trifle difficult. They belong to the family Caratopogonidae which has 152 species in Britain. Most of them feed on the blood of other insects, but the ones that bite humans specialise in warm-blooded animals (yeah, that’s us), 20 species are known to feed from mammals, and 16 species have been recorded feeding from man. Though, as things evolve it is anticipated that more species will be recorded as feeding from man, for a variety of reasons.

As they look in pupae stage,
and immediately afterwards.

In Scotland the adult midges begin to emerge in April, and may be active up until October, though there are two peak periods namely end of May beginning of July (whoopee, done) and then again end of July to early August. The larvae are semi-aquatic, and so they drown in open water, or else desiccate in dry soil. Accordingly slight rain does not pose a problem or obstacle, only strong rain, and of course also dry spells. As they over-winter in their final instar and only pupate in spring that explains their resistance to cooler temperatures (little swines). It seems that so far there is no effective insecticide spray, apart from that their means of moving around, namely mainly ‘on the wind’, also makes spaying more difficult as well as hazardous to other life forms. In addition the moment you have zapped a couple of thousand by spraying them the next population emerges, and there is an almost constant supply of new additions. Thus the only real means of combating them is with repellents, which can largely be effective but not perfect. It is still best to try and avoid them altogether by covering yourself up as much as possible, and then applying various repellents to as little exposed skin as possible. 

Typical standard midge
head net, though this one
should be worn over a hat.
Also available are ones with a
'yamukka' type of hat as
part of the whole arrangement.

There appears to be a fair selection of sprays and lotions that one can buy ready-made, though most of those who have had to tolerate these little critters for a while still reckon that the best is Neem Oil. This is a natural product, is usually bought in concentrated or pure form, and then mixed with an emulsifier. This is then kept in a spray bottle, and one just sprays oneself whenever one is going to venture outdoors, or anticipates being preyed upon indoors. It does have a slight odour or smell, which although ‘different’, is not entirely unpleasant. Perhaps it almost borders on the fringe of a mild mixture of garlic and pickled onion. Neem Oil is also the preferred method of treatment for horses and other livestock, especially since it is natural, invariably organic, and not all that expensive if purchased in even slightly larger quantities. The other preferred option, apparently also used by the Special Forces, is an Avon Cosmetics product called “Skin So Soft”. And as the name implies, it was originally produced and intended as a moisturiser, but then somebody discovered that once applied it also kept midges at bay. Depending on where and in what quantity one buys it, it is again somewhat affordable. There is also a growing array of chemical sprays and stuff, but most of them are not that good for ones wellbeing, nor for the environment. Indoors there is also the option of burning incense, but one does not necessarily want to do that all the time. On the natural product side there is also a growing support for citronella oil, but not everybody is that ‘convinced’ of its efficacy or efficiency, plus it does rather smell. All repellents eventually wipe off, or are ‘washed’ away through sweating, or by other means, thus all forms of repellent or combating them only reduces the number or severity of bites. Trust me; one way or another they’re gonna get you! But a little more about that later on when I mention the challenges that they seem to enjoy in their hunting escapades.

They are so small that normal mosquito
netting merely amuses them. To
create a proper barrier one needs
extremely fine netting, to the point
that a lot of air movement is actually
also blocked out.

As I had indicated previously, midges are very small in comparison to a mosquito. Yet they appear to be designed with a few advantages over a mosquito, and then plus a few added skills and techniques. I think most people, even most Scots who grew up here, have no idea just how many midges there are. It is known how many accounted for different types, or species and hybrids or whatever there are, but actual little suckers, I doubt it. This is particularly significant in terms of Buddhism, and the whole aspect of being reborn in one of six realms, with them of course being in the animal realm. The question that is often asked is that if the global population of humans is increasing each year, or even daily, where are all the new ‘souls’ or consciousness’s coming from? Since there are six realms, all occupied with said consciousness’s (souls), all undergoing a different experience, naturally realm dependant, plus the Buddha having said that ours is not the only universe into which one could be reborn, then there is a very wide ‘pool’ from which these new people can come into being.

Those little black spots are some
of the midges that 'dried out'. This
is just one days accumulation, from
those which manage to snug inside
when one opens the door to enter
or exit. At times they also cling
to ones clothes.

The other thing we frequently also tend to overlook is that apart from there being far more animals on the planet than humans, with the largest percentage of them living in water, it means that with the human population increasing the animal population, or those in any of the other realms, must be and is decreasing. With our prowess at creating means and methods of destruction, quite a few million more animals, even if they are mosquitoes, flies, ants, and the likes, are killed off than ever before. On top of all of that, we are of course so adapt at doing this that we have managed to get quite a few species totally extinct. And with quite a few I do not mean in the tens, or even hundreds, no, we are far better at it than that. To get back to the actual number of midges, and in the absence of any formal census, which would in any event be extremely difficult as the little blithers only live for a very short while in any event, there must be billions upon billions. And each one of them wants to be happy, which they are usually most when they are busy feeding on some other being.

Typical type of netting to cover any
window which you intend to leave
open,even just for a brief moment.
Especially at night when you have
any lights on.

But I digress. The midge has a fairly short lifespan, apparently 20 to 30 days at most, and during that time it not only has to feed, but also mate and generally be happy, as all living beings are want to be. The problem is of course that invariably their happiness is often dependent on something or somebody else’s happiness or wellbeing, as with most other living beings as well. This is also more than evident with humans by the many disputes and wars and fighting and general discontent that is going on in the world today. In order to be able to feed the midge appears to enjoy a challenge in the sense that it prefers to target moving dark objects, though that could also just be ‘learnt’ experience, in that it means that that is something alive and hence contains blood. Where they are more adept to mosquitoes is that generally it appears they move and feed in swarms, whereas the mosquito tends to act as loner assassins. But the swarming has little to do with the actual feeding, and much more with breeding. In terms of feeding, due to their small size they are difficult to spot until it is too late, plus they are able to land so softly, that again you only realise they are there once they are busy feeding. Finally they are silent, unlike the mosquito assassin which ‘announces’ its approach and landing attempt well in advance (dumb fool) the midge is totally silent.

In feeding they really do not mind whether you are awake or sleeping, whether moving about or stationary. If it senses that you are food then it will go in for the kill. Some of the people here refer to them as little Bodhisattvas, which for the non-Buddhists reading this are beings which lead others towards enlightenment. And that they may do by enabling you to practise tolerance, compassion, charity, forgiveness, kindness, endurance, and perhaps even wisdom. Personally I prefer to leave them alone as long as they leave me alone, and to otherwise see myself as the Bodhisattva as I ensure that they have a more rapid opportunity for a more beneficial rebirth by slapping my hands together as I recite the mantra of compassion. Now that is the wisdom part, to know who is the more evolved being and to not allow others to use you as target practise nor as a fresh produce market.

!O-3|-W;-