SWEET ITCH NEWS, RESEARCH & AWARENESS
According to an article in The Scotsman on the 7th March this year's Scottish midge invasion is set to be 800 times worse than normal because of the protection given to the larvae by the blanket of snow.

Dr Alison Blackwell of the SCOTTISH MIDGE FORECAST believed the severe winter weather would reduce midge numbers but to her surprise the converse has happened.

SCOTTISH MIDGE THREAT
"We thought that a hard ground frost would kill the midge larvae off as they hibernate because we know that they die if you put them in a freezer," she said. If Scotland were to have a wet Spring it is quite likely every midge trap would have 2kg of midges collected in one Summer night. This equates to 16 million midges instead of about 20,000 at one location.

SNOW BLANKET PROTECTS MIDGES
Scotland and The Lake District probably had the most snow and the longest staying 'blanket'. But nobody knows for sure whether other parts of Britain blanketed for many weeks with snow are going to suffer a plague of culicoides midges. A warm, wet Spring could also affect midge numbers too as these are ideal conditions for breeding. We won't know whether this is going to be a bad year for midges until late May.

SWEET ITCH PRECAUTIONS & AWARENESS
We should take early precautions and set in motion a thorough preventative regime for our Sweet Itch horses. April is Sweet Itch Awareness Month.

NEW TREATMENTS FOR SWEET ITCH
Research into the Sweet Itch problem and possible new treatments has in recent years broadly revolved round three areas (a) immunotherapy as exemplified by the work of BioEos and The School of Veterinary Sciences at Bristol University and (b) repellents and (c) attractants.

ATTRACTANT PHEROMONES LURE MIDGES
Attractants are pheromones which lure midges to their death in Midge Machines or Midge Traps and repellents are often pheromones too but ones which push away midges or mask attractants. There are,of course,lots of repellents which make the skin surface unpleasant - eg. acid, oily, greasy - either by direct application or by exudation: the in-feed technique. Putting garlic, apple cider vinegar and herbs into food/water is one way of introducing these repellents.

SCOTLAND'S BITING MIDGE CULICOIDES IMPUNCTATUS
Scotland, the home of the infamous Biting Midge culicoides impunctatus, has been the focus for alot of on-going research into midge behaviour. Dr Alison Blackwell of Edinburgh University and retired Professor Jenny Mordue of Aberdeen University are just two well known individuals out of many involved in 'beating the itch' and curbing/frustrating the predatory feeding habits of the female midge.

SALTIDIN AND SMIDGE TO THE RESCUE
Advanced Pest Solutions (APS), an Edinburgh University start-up company sponsored by Calor and Scottish Enterprise, researched and developed the Scottish Midge Forecast. This in turn launched a new midge repellent in June 2010 for humans called SMIDGE with Saltidin (aka Icaridin, Picaridin or Bayrepel) as the active ingredient. SMC claim it repels midges for up to 8 hours, is a safe and effective alternative to DEET and water and sweat resistant. Saltidin isn't registered for use with horses in the UK, so Smidge can't be officially recommended. But,as with Avon Skin So Soft, horse riders will no doubt decide for themselves whether SMIDGE is suitable for their horses.

SMIDGE is available from www.midgeforecast.co.uk in a 75mm aluminium pump spray. Here is an independent review on "a repellent that works ?" on Song of the Paddle.

RESEARCH BY ABERDEEN UNIVERSITY ON FARMYARD MIDGES MAY LEAD TO A NEW MIDGE PEPELLENT FOR SWEET ITCH HORSES.
At Aberdeen University Dr James Logan says "PhD students are currently working on farmyard midges in the UK and a large project in India. We are hoping these projects will allow us to develop a useful product which can be used to control midges around livestock". Just how the repellent will be deployed with horses is a mystery at present though some kind of dispersant methodology is anticipated - like a Midge Machine in reverse - for stables.

The human applicaton of this repellent using push-away or masking pheromones geranylacetone and methylheptonone is due to be launched in 2012.

MIDGE TRAPS FOR STABLES & EQUESTRIAN CENTRES
Returning now to Midge Machines or Midge Traps - there are numerous other proprietary names such as Midgeeater, Midge Monster, MidgeBlaster, Midge Guard and Midge Magnet. These operate on the basis of attracting midges by creating carbon dioxide from Propane using a catalytic converter, infusing with another pheromone attractant called Octenol and releasing this gaseous concoction in the area to be kept clear of midges. The midges are then sucked in and 'bagged'. Useful for stables and equestrian centres but probably a bit too pricey for most horse owners who'll opt for ceiling or wall fans to deter midges. Picture: Predator Dynamic Midge Trap from The Scottish Midge Forecast.Link at the bottom of the page.

SWEET ITCH MIDGES LIKE DARK MOVING OBJECTS EXHALING CARBON DIOXIDE - THAT'S YOU RIDING A HORSE AT DUSK AND DAWN FEEDING TIME!
Carbon dioxide is what we, and other animals, breath out. Its what midges home in on. It indicates a blood meal. Visually midges are drawn to dark moving objects. They target large women and tall men and love their potential meals to be hot and sweaty - plenty of attractants. Someone sitting on a dark horse would be particularly vunerable as most midges prefer to fly nearer to 12 feet from the ground than 3 feet, the midge-cloud density increasing with height.

Read more about midge behaviour and insect repellents for horse Sweet Itch here.

GOOGLE TRENDS - SEE CHART TOP LEFT
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Editor's Comment:- The number of 'searches' in Google for Sweet Itch tends to mirror what's really happening to our allergic horses, whether the dry spell in the south of England has reduced the midge population or just delayed it. There has been alot more rain in the north of England and Scotland.

Interest in Sweet Itch peaked in April for the UK as a whole and is now falling away in late May. But as the weather has changed and a lot more rain is on its way will we see it shoot up in June? Do you want to contact me if there is a sudden surge in your area? For the Scottish Midge Forecast go here
info@john.trueman44@virgin.net

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