Midge numbers down because of heatwave
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The hot weather has taken the bite out of midges.
A leading expert on the biting beastie said the numbers being caught in official counting traps were "well down" in the heatwave.
But it is likely to prove a temporary respite - as wetter and warm weather returns, so will midges strike with a vengeance.
That is bad good news for the Scottish tourism industry which was previously estimated to lose about £286 million-a -year because of the voracious and swarming insects.
A previous study also found that many tourists said they would not return to Scotland at the same time of year because of midges.
Top midge expert Dr Alison Blackwell said today that recent temperatures were having an effect.
"The numbers fall quickly in hot spells. Midges only have a 2mm wingspan so they become dehydrated quickly. Some weeks the numbers being trapped can be down by about 50 percent compared to normal years. But despite this hot spell, with the right conditions it could be a bumper and longer year for them,” she said.
The first of this year's hatchings in May happened two weeks earlier than usual, according to the scientists behind the Scottish Midge Forecast.
This was because of warmer than usual temperatures.
But the cool and unsettled weather that followed affected the second hatching of midges and peak populations normally seen in June did not occur.
Dr Blackwell and her team previously calculated the total number of midges in the Highlands and Islands for the first time.
They estimated there were 139 billion midges in the Highlands and Islands.
Half of them were females - only the female midge bites - but not every one of them makes it to 'biting point.'
So the number of midges seeking a "blood meal" over the summer are around 21 billion.
