Midge Infestation!!!

[OttoSchloss]

Mine have been gone for about a week now. And yeah, I do have 2 very large spiders that live on my terrace.

 

[Jonny5]

(perhaps mods can move this from Politics to general)

They're back!
The screen to my balcony was covered with a hundred this morning. A few had managed to worm their way past the screen, so I had to get out the can of Raid to open the sliding door.

Getting bugged by the midges? Just wait them out, says this insect expert

If it seems like Toronto is being overtaken by midges -- those tiny, winged insects that travel in swarms – well, that’s true.

www.cp24.com

 

[jje1000]

I wonder how far back complaints about midges in Toronto have gone for?

Surely this phenomenon would have been present right up to Toronto's founding? Or is it more of a cultural shift (people more accustomed to comfort) + shifting baseline syndrome as biodiversity has shifted, leaving only the midges behind?

 

[Jonny5]

I wonder how far back complaints about midges in Toronto have gone for?

Surely this phenomenon would have been present right up to Toronto's founding? Or is it more of a cultural shift (people more accustomed to comfort) + shifting baseline syndrome as biodiversity has shifted, leaving only the midges behind?

I think a lot of midge complaints come from high-rise dwellers because the buildings generally radiate out heat from windows at night, which is helpful for the Midges to survive in the early spring without freezing, and also perhaps keeps many more of them away from spiders, thoguh the spiders seemed to have figured out this trick and are quite happy living 40 stories up, perhaps because it shelters them from being eaten by birds.

So I think the population of them is far higher than it used to be. In general, increasing urbanism benefits some (though not all) varieties of insects greatly.