Word Finder - midges

definition

Any of various small two-winged flies, for example, from the family Chironomidae or non-biting midges, the family Chaoboridae or phantom midges, and the family Ceratopogonidae or biting midges, all belonging to the order Diptera

definition

Any bait or lure designed to resemble a midge

Comprises the midges, gnats, crane-flies, gad-flies, &c.

In general appearance mosquitoes resemble many harmless midges (Chironomidae), but may be distinguished by the following characters.

To the traveller, the most conspicuous among the Mexican insects, perhaps, are the butterflies, beetles, ants and the myriads of mosquitoes, midges, fleas and chinches.

During the summer they remain on hilltops to avoid midges.

That Diptera of the type of the common house-fly are often in large measure responsible for the spread of such diseases as cholera and enteric fever is undeniable, and as regards blood-sucking forms, in addition to those to which reference has already been made, it is sufficient to mention the vast army of pests constituted by the midges, sand-flies, horseflies, &c., from the attacks of which domestic animals suffer equally with man, in addition to being frequently infested with the larvae of the bot and warble flies (Gastrophilus, Oestrus and Hypoderma).

An ear of another type is found in the swollen second segment of the feeler in many male gnats and midges, the cuticle between this segment and the third forming an annular drum which is connected with numerous nerveendings, while the fine bristles on the more distal segments vibrate in response to the note produced by the humming of the female.

The midges are even more numerous than the mosquitoes.

Cattle are the main reservoir of bluetongue virus which is transmitted by biting midges, although cattle themselves do not generally become ill.

Then we are escaping hordes of midges up An Teallach, on a day of playful breezes and luminous skies.

I cajoled us on in an anxious bid for a raised knoll where a breeze would ensure midges stayed grounded.

There are 34 known species of biting midges in Scotland only 5 of these species attack humans.

The bags are used for catching midges once they have been sucked into the machine.

They do tend to be windy, which in defense does keep the midges down.

Knackered if you kept going, but eaten by the midges if you stopped.

Clouds of biting midges can turn a pleasant walk into an ordeal.

These little insects are comparable in the desire for human flesh to Scottish midges.

Only the female midges bite to feed their eggs.

Once in the forest we looked for a good place to camp and pitched our tent, there were quite a few midges around.

The main problem is fireblight, but caterpillars, aphids, gall midges, honey fungus, rust and powdery mildew may give problems.

The Diptera Orthorrhapha include the more primitive and less specialized families such as the Tipulidae (daddy-long-legs), Culicidae (gnats or mosquitoes), Chironomidae (midges), Mycetophilidae (fungus-midges), Tabanidae (horse-flies), Asilidae (robber-flies), &c. The Diptera Cyclorrhapha on the other hand consist of the most highly specialized families, such as the Syrphidae (hover-flies), Oestridae (bot and warble flies), and Muscidae (sensu latiore - the house-fly and its allies, including tsetse-flies, flesh-flies, Tachininae, or flies the larvae of which are internal parasites of caterpillars, &c.).

Before a whole swarm of these midges appeared from nowhere !

As a rule flies are of small or moderate size, and many, such as certain blood-sucking midges of the genus Ceratopogon, are even minute; as extremes of size may be mentioned a common British midge, Ceratopogon varius, the female of which measures only 14 millimetre, and the gigantic Mydaidae of Central and South America as well as certain Australian robber-flies, which have a body 1-11n.

In some midges and in caddis-flies the serosa becomes ruptured and absorbed, while the germ band, still clothed with the amnion, grows around the yolk.