Midges

Nine of us were bitten by midges on our trip to Connemara. We were very jealous of the other 8 in the class who didn't wear midge repellent but were not bitten! We did a little research on these small but deadly creatures. The drawing is by Zachary and the summary of what we learned is by Elanna.

by ZACHARY

Midges are tiny flies that bite and are active from May to September. A bite from a midge will have no effect on some people but other people get a severe reaction with red swelling and itching around the bite (Coral and Ms Dunne experienced this!). Midges are active around stagnant (still) water and bogs. They are most active on calm, wet, cloudy days. There are 29 species of midges in Ireland. Only six of these bite people. The worst biter is the Cucliodes Inpunctatus. This is the kind that was in Delphi. Only the female bites, they do this to extract protein from our blood to develop their eggs.