Aigas, Highlands: The summmer's sunlight and wind have dealt a blow to Highland midges, but now there is the tropical whine of mosquitoes It continues to be an extraordinary summer. While the Highlands haven't seen the extreme temperatures of London and the south, here at Aigas, south-west of Inverness, we have had no significant rain since early May, and many days have been exceptionally hot - to the surprise and delight of visitors - and reliably bright and sunny, with light breezes week after week. Like most of the rest of Britain, our grass stopped growing in June and has been biscuit brown for two months; the burns and rivers are dry or dribbling low, and the moorland bogs are firmer underfoot than I can ever recall.One apparent benefit is the welcome lack of midges. The pinhead-sized females of these very aggressive arthropods have to have blood before they can breed, and the Highland midge's scientific name, Culicoides impunctatus, broadly translates as "little puncturing bastard". Continue reading...
Country diary: goodbye midges, hello mozzies
20. srpna 2018 7:00
Příroda
Celý článek: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/aug/20/country-diary-goodbye-midges-hello-mozzies
Zdroj: The Guardian