Just in case you missed it, the mainstream media is buzzing with the news that midges – the nasty little blighters – like tall men and large women, while some 15 per-cent of people produce natural insect repellent and are rarely bitten.
Researchers from Aberdeen University and Rothamsted Research apparently surveyed 325 people at a duathlon near Loch Ness in 2008 and asked them whether they'd been bitten and, if so, how much.
There's logic behind the findings, apparently midges tend to cruise above head height, so taller people register first on the midgey radar. Professor Jenny Mordue from the University of Aberdeen, said, “ The preference for taller people could
be associated with midge behaviour and flight patterns, as midges are found at great numbers with increasing height, particularly between 1-4 metres.”
And as far as overweight women go, the hypothesis is that they produce more of the chemicals like carbon dioxide and lactic acid that attract midges. The scientists also believe over-sized men are at risk, but they were under-represented in the survey.
“Larger people would provide a more substantial visual target for host-seeking midges as well as greater amounts of heat, moisture and attractant semiochemicals (behaviour modifying chemicals), such as carbon dioxide, which are the cues the insects use to locate a suitable blood meal,” said Dr Logan.
Finally, some 15% of people were rarely bitten, leading scientists to conclude that they produced a natural insect repellent. Because the pattern corresponded to family links, the theory is that there's a genetic link here.
Scientists isolated the chemicals responsible, geranylacetone and methylheptenone and are working with an Asian company to produce a commercial insect repellent based on it which could be available in the UK in two years time.
That's particularly welcome news to anyone travelling to a mosquito-infested area as recent research shows that mosquitos can become resistant to Deet, the most widely used commercial repellent.
So, bad news for tall, overweight folk who don't produce their own repellent. All we can suggest for now is keeping an eye on the Scottish Midge Forecast at 2010.midgeforecast.co.uk avoid the Glencoe area over the summer. The guys behind the forecast have also developed their own repellent, Smidge, which is reckoned to camouflage the smells midges use to find you.
We've also had cautiously positive results with Nikwax SkitoStop which, like Smidge, is Deet free. Oh, and apparently eating garlic or raw onions won't help you repel midges, though it may keep your mates at distance...
More details at www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2458/10/275/abstract
