4 ms·
The headline is wrong. That's not what the article says at all. A more accurate summary is "Scotland has always had mosquitoes and no one paid much attention t
by avalys 2y ago
The headline is wrong. That's not what the article says at all.
A more accurate summary is "Scotland has always had mosquitoes and no one paid much attention to them. We went looking for Scottish mosquitoes recently, and we found more than we expected, but we can't quantify what we expected because no one ever paid attention, so we don't really know what that means. But now we're paying closer attention to mosquitoes in Scotland because of climate change and we'll know some day whether there's anything changing with Scottish mosquitoes."
- GordonS 2y agoScot here, can confirm these tiny, winged devils have always been around to some extent. Still, I prefer them to midges :-/
- hkt 2y agoHang on.. they're not the same thing?!
- GordonS 2y agoNo, see Gerdesj's sibling comment, it's the perfect description! (midges are smaller, but you get clouds of them!)
- secondcoming 2y agoNo. Midges are smaller than fruit flies.
- gerdesj 2y agoWe had a aircraft called a Mosquito that was given a status of two kills if brought down by Axis forces during WW2 due to being a major pest. We need to field one called a Midge. It would be a drone and there would be millions of them.
- mc32 2y agoThere is the midget mustang. It's an aerobatic aircraft, so not quite fit for an airforce: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mustang_Aeronautics_Midget_Mustang https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mustang_Aeronautics_Midget_Mus...
- gerdesj 2y agoMidget means small and a midget mustang is a small horse! Midge should mean "daemon insect". The sodding things (Scottish Highland midge) really are quite unpleasant: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Highland_midge https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Highland_midge
- prerok 2y agoGeez, yes, we only have mosquitos and I didn't think there's a worse thing :/ Though I encountered them only in quantity in Milford Sound in New Zealand. I was in Scotland for three months (Edinburgh) and did not encounter them. Have they spread?
- GordonS 2y agoYou only see them during summer... which usually lasts around 8 days ;)
- hkt 2y agoScotland has indeed always had mosquitoes, and it is a thing that they're unbearable in summer: https://www.onlandscape.co.uk/2016/07/dreaded-scottish-midge/ https://www.onlandscape.co.uk/2016/07/dreaded-scottish-midge... This also shows that population testing has been a thing for a while.
- secondcoming 2y agoMidges aren't mosquitoes.
- IanCal 2y agoSeems to be an article about midges, which are not mosquitoes.
- thsksbd 2y agoSomeone who has never been in Scotland, but hates mosquitoes... why wouldn't Scotland be chock full of them? Wet weather and very warm for its latitude.
- cjk2 2y agoNo one noticed them because they were busy getting nuked by the midges.
- labster 2y agoWarm for its latitude of >55°? We’re not living in greenhouse Earth yet. Wait a few decades.
- thsksbd 2y agoLol, I didn't say it's warm. I said its warmer than the alternatives. What is warmer than Scotland and north of 55? Canada is essentially uninhabited north of 55 (Edmonton is 53). Im not sure there trees north of Edmonton. Moscow is on 55 and it snowed two days ago.
- prerok 2y agoI was there 20 years back and did not notice them. I think you have to be heavy in the marshlands to notice.
- golergka 2y agoHN is the only website that I know where reading the comments before the linked article is a smart choice.