A New Weapon in the Fight against the Scottish Midge
Friday 20th May sees the relaunch of the Scottish Midge Forecast; in it’s sixth year now!! The system uses a complex set of algorithms to predict midge activity at sites across Scotland, producing a 7-day forecast for each site of interest, chosen by visitors to the site through a familiar Google mapping interface.
As well as the online version of the Midge Forecast, the data is presented in a number of national newspapers and also, is available as an iPhone app for those out and about.
Critical to the success of the Midge Forecast is verification and modification of the model outputs by live data; both weather data collected by mini weather stations and midge data, collected by a network of 10 brave volunteers covering the length and breadth of the country. For 2011 we are using Scotland’s newest and most powerful midge trap for our surveillance; the Predator Dynamic Midge and Mosquito Trap. The Predator is a stand-alone trap, powered by propane. It combines a range of cues to maximise the attractiveness of the machine to blood-seeking midges. These include carbon dioxide and host odour, movement in the form of flashing LED’s, light cues, heat and moisture. Once midges are drawn close to the trap, they are either sucked inside where they are collected in tray of water, or they are caught on a sticky glueboard on the outside of the trap. During trials in 2010, a single Predator trap collected 800,000 midges over a five-day period.
The Predator is perfect for both the small garden and the larger golf green or outdoor event and both traps and advice on their use can be provided by the team behind the Midge Forecast, who have 20 years experience of biting insect behaviour, ecology and control. To find out more, click the link below.
Count Down to the Fort William Mountain Bike World Cup
The For William Mountain Bike World Cup is just 15 days away, with the highlight being The Downhill, which is a full-on, flat-out, no-compromise charge down the face of Aonach Mor, the 9th highest mountain in the UK. As well as competing with the terrain, the competitors will face Scotland’s most ferocious of foes, the Highland Biting Midge. The first weekend of June historically sees large midge populations for the first time in a summer and for this reason, the organisers of the show invited the Midge Forecast team to be the official suppliers of repellent, with Smidge that Midge, offering long-lasting, water/sweat-proof protection against midges and other biting insects, even under the toughest of conditions.
To mark the event, Smidge is giving away two day passes to the person who can guess how many midges we will catch in one week prior to the event in Fort William. The trap will run for 7 nights from May 19th and the competition is open for entry, NOW. To enter follow this link or click on the MTB picture above (you will need to follow us on twitter to submit a guess).
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The Scottish Midge Forecast Blog.
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Recently Written
- Smidge wins Innovation Award
- iPhone Update to help out Midge Haters!
- A New Weapon in the Fight against the Scottish Midge
- Count Down to the Fort William Mountain Bike World Cup
- Smidge Repellent Lends a Hand at the First Monster Challenge 2010
- Smidge to take on the First Monster Challenge
- 1938 Midge Press Cutting Unearthed
- Smidge Forecast iPhone app nominated for DADI award
- Smidge helps out ‘Inside Luxury Travel’
- ‘Smidge That Midge’ Repellent passes the Swedish Kayaking Test
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Interesting sites
- Advanced Pest Solutions - Creator of the Midge Forecast
- Midge Forecast - The Midge Forecast website
- Midge Forecast Shop - buy Smidge, Scotland’s great new repellent - Midge Forecast Shop
- Saltidin - The Midge Forecast sponsor for 2009
